Reasonable Madness
by Silentz
Summary: It was an anonymous letter written to pass the time. He hadn’t even meant to give it to him. But then he did, and that’s when the trouble began. NaruGaara. Yaoi. AU.
1. First Sight

Summary: It was an anonymous letter written to pass the time. He hadn't even meant to give it to him. But then he did, and that's when the trouble began. NaruGaara. Yaoi. AU.

Warning(s): Rating may go up. (After careful consideration, I'm fairly sure it will); sensitive issues.

**Reasonable Madness  
****  
**(or "A Strong Warning Against the Act of Written Anonymity")

* * *

"There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness."  
– Nietzsche

* * *

_  
He had a very charming mouth…_

_I can't explain it. Haven't you ever noticed a particular attribute about a person that reason could not describe?_

_Except he was a _he_, and _I _was a he, and so this presented a bit of a problem._

**Chapter 1**: First Sight

Naruto didn't know what compelled him to do it.

He had been sitting in class, staring out the window, not even bothering to pay attention to the student who currently had the floor. It was a joyful day of presentations at Konoha High, but his attention was elsewhere. He watched the students outside who were currently engaged in a fierce soccer match. How lucky they were—to be free. Okay, so maybe "free" was stretching it, but at least they weren't crammed up in a small classroom, being forced to listen to student after student, all of whom didn't want to be there anyway. Life is fun that way.

He yawned and stretched, bringing himself to glimpse around the classroom for the second time in a fifty-minute period. Still boring. One row ahead, Sasuke glanced back and glared, silently inferring with his sable eyes that the blond should have been paying attention. Naruto merely stuck out his tongue and smirked, exaggerating another yawn and resting his cheek in his palm.

The student in front rambled on and on, shifting this way and that and occasionally doing his best to fake nonverbal communication. At least this guy was mildly amusing. But, as soon as Naruto started to pay attention, the guy finished up, collecting his papers and taking a seat.

"Next up is…" The older man up front—their amazingly enthused English teacher, also known as Kakashi-sensei—scanned his class list until his thin finger ceased on a new name. "Ah, yes. Gaara," he said, squinting up at the class. "You're up."

Naruto's mind skimmed through the information in his brain, idly searching for the name. Gaara. It didn't ring a bell. He stared ahead until a student nearer to the front finally stood, paper in hand, before approaching the podium to present to the class. He was of a good height, Naruto considered, before almost laughing out loud at the attention-deficit musing. Waiting until midnight the previous night to write his own paper was definitely taking its toll.

"All right," Kakashi said, when Gaara seemed situated, "Proceed when ready."

Gaara didn't nod. He didn't even say "okay". He did nothing to indicate that he understood what the educator had said, or that he could even comprehend human language. Naruto liked that.

"Very well," Gaara finally said, glancing about the room momentarily. "I decided to write my paper on the use of enjambment within Emily Dickinson's poetry."

Naruto pursed his lips, for lack of anything better to do, and turned his attention back to the pseudo-soccer-team outside, cheek still resting in his hand. He didn't know Gaara. Gaara was not like his friend Sasuke, whom he would at least have paid attention to out of a kind of respect. Gaara was essentially no one, and a nobody had no room in Naruto's already brimming mind.

So what was it, then?

Why on earth did this nobody named Gaara have such a penetrating voice? Naruto tried to focus his thoughts on the kids outside the window, but now he found he could not. That blasted voice! There was nothing even particularly special about it, either. It was an inch away from being rather monotone, if not for the fleeting moments of emphasis and emotion. Very slight emotion. Very slight…something else.

Finally bringing himself to look at his previously unknown classmate, Naruto was slightly dumbfounded. There was absolutely nothing special about this Gaara character, save for the fact that he had no eyebrows and still managed to make the trend look decent. He had brick-red hair that almost looked like he had cut it himself, but heaven forbid if he didn't make _that_ look good, too. Naruto looked away again. What a weird thought. What a_ very_ weird thought. Even as he tried his hardest to focus on the events outside of the window, for the first time that evening, he actually felt like paying attention.

Ruffling his blond hair, Naruto drummed his fingers silently on his desk, before resigning himself to doodling. His hand leisurely wove about the page, pen in hand, before he decided to give up on that, too.

"Such lines really convey feelings of helplessness or vulnerability," Gaara's voice tore into Naruto's thoughts, taking over completely. He continued to sketch, before actually looking at his artwork.

Suddenly, his breath hitched. It was loud enough for the students in his immediate vicinity to turn and face him, curious as to what was the matter. Ignoring them, Naruto stared in shock at the puzzling, four-letter word that now marred his homework's surface.

_Teal._

Naruto hesitantly looked up, his newfound, worst fears coming to fruition. Teal. His eyes were teal. Gaara had teal eyes. Naruto. His paper. Naruto's paper that was due before the end of the period now had said Gaara's eye color artfully drawn in the left margin. Today truly was a joyous day. Holding his face in his hands, he really tried not to rip his hair out.

"Is something wrong, Uzumaki-kun?" the teacher's voice trailed throughout the classroom.

Naruto nearly jumped at his name, straightening up in his chair immediately and trying to look attentive. Instead, he looked like he had just been caught sleeping. "Wrong? No," he said with a nervous laugh. "It's just such a great presentation…"

The instructor adjusted his glasses, eyebrows knitting together to form an odd glare, even with one eye veiled. "While your presence is appreciated, Mr. Uzumaki, your sarcasm is not. Please pay attention."

Naruto leered as Sasuke's chuckle also carried back. He hadn't meant to sound sarcastic; it just came out that way. Then again, he hadn't meant to write down a perfect stranger's eye color, but that's what happened. Slumping down in his chair, he glanced at the clock, glad that the period was almost over. As he faced forward, he realized that Gaara had yet to proceed. No, he was looking toward Naruto's corner of the room. Wait, he was looking _at_ Naruto. Those teal eyes were currently boring into Naruto's own, a veiled emotion in their sapphire-emerald depths. Upon closer inspection, anyone could tell that emotion was annoyance. Naruto had, after all, interrupted his presentation. Still, having such a strong gaze meet his own made Naruto so unconsciously nervous that his right hand covered up his paper. Gaara's mouth was parted slightly, as if he was still mid-sentence, before he broke the contact and continued his vocalizations.

Uncanny. Time had seemed to stop in that moment, but in reality, only a few seconds had gone by. No one else had seemed to notice, but Naruto could do little else than pay it mind. But something else had invaded his thoughts—something uniquely foreign.

Gaara's mouth. Greatness-be-damned if he wasn't staring at it now. Naruto wasn't sure why, but he was definitely positive he had found minute fascination in the subtle shift of Gaara's parted lips as he went from silence to sound. He was also definitely positive that such thoughts were odd, and moreover unacceptable. Guys did not think that way about other guys. More specifically,_ straight_ guys did not think that way about other guys. Naruto considered himself straight…Very straight. He even liked a girl, imagine that. Her name was Haruno Sakura, and though she was very popular and lived but a block away from him growing up, she hardly paid him the time of day. And if she did, it was quite clear that she only had friendship in mind for a one Uzumaki Naruto.

T his class is  
E ating my soul  
A s I suffer through  
L ife's oddities.

Naruto wasn't sure at what point in his random thoughts he had thrown together the acrostic, but it made him smile, nonetheless. Too bad the base word was the eye-color of the guy whose mouth he was currently obsessed with.

NO. He was not obsessed. It was just a random enthrallment, and Naruto was clear to straighten that out in his mind. Well, as straight as possible. He was glad that writing out his thoughts helped to lessen the tension of his brain somewhat. His pen continued to jot down his reflections (on a new sheet of paper) until they started to form sentences. The sentences soon evolved into higher thought that took on the look of blank verse. Poetry was his outlet. Yes, the goofiest kid in school actually liked to write every once in a while. But, this was something he kept mostly to himself. Sasuke knew and even _he_, his closest friend, chided Naruto about it on occasion.

That was when the letter began. He wasn't sure when it had started to take shape, but before he knew it, Naruto was writing a letter to a boy he knew absolutely nothing about, save for the color of his eyes. Sasuke would definitely love this. Naruto could already hear his sarcastic remarks. And the questions. Definitely the questions. Inquiries into his true sexuality, perhaps? But Naruto was straight! He would defend that to the end. He just couldn't go more than a minute without glancing up at the red-haired, teal-eyed, good-heighted, nice-mouthed Gaara.

Sasuke would most definitely mock him. And endlessly, at that.

_Your hair is nice,  
__Like cinnamon spice—_

He quickly omitted that random outpouring of trite (and comical) description, once again looking up at Gaara. His lips moved, but Naruto didn't pay attention to the sound. Instead, he found himself engrossed in the way Gaara's lips formed each word, carefully expressing his thoughts perfectly. The sentences started to flow more easily from Naruto's pen this time, as he described with each line how he was not someone Gaara knew, but that they were drawn together by English class. The unstructured work was, in a way, addressed to Gaara, as Naruto put forth his contemplations. He even explained how he had tried to ignore Gaara, though that was obviously a failure.

_But each time you spoke I found your words held much thought  
__And then I was caught._

Naruto's chin balanced on his palm as his eyes drifted back up to Gaara once again.

_That's when I thought,  
_"_Huh, he's tall…" And then,  
_"_If he smiled, I'm sure it would be nice."  
__But that was all.  
__Until you spoke again._

His thoughts came much easier now as he dealt out his dilemma with his utensil. It was liberating to be able to express his feelings somehow, and as Gaara finished his explanation, so did Naruto, scribbling the last thought before finally setting down his pen.

_Forget this dumb writer, who I am is obsolete.  
__Just know you are appreciated;  
__It couldn't get much more concrete._

_Signed with a smile,  
__The one you'll never meet._

"Excellent job, Gaara," Kakashi praised, rising to his feet. Gaara simply bowed, handing him his paper before claiming his seat. "Next up…Naruto, you look oddly enthusiastic. Why don't you grace us with a presentation of your paper?"

Naruto paused, not at all prepared for such a request. "No, you—you misunderstood, you see—I—," he stumbled over his thoughts, the words not coming together as well as they had moments before on paper. "Well—it's just—"

'_Actually, I was just excited about this poem that I had just finished about Gaara.'_ Yeah…right…He wasn't too sure how well that would fly. Releasing a weary breath, he stood, bringing his paper and self to the front of the room. Thankfully, his sudden fascination seemed to have faded out. Writing always helped him to sort his thoughts out. Talking in front of the class was another matter. Right as he found himself at the podium, sporting a feigned smile and air of enthusiasm, the bell rang.

"Yes!" Naruto couldn't help but say, shooting a fist into the air. A few of the students up front laughed, while the rest merely shook their heads, not at all surprised by their classmate's unveiled behavior.

"Yes, yes, Uzumaki-kun," Kakashi rolled his eyes. "You're free this time. Hand me your paper if you'd like me to grade it."

Naruto skipped over to him and thrust the paper into his hands. "Here ya go! I worked hard, so be sure to give me the amazing grade I deserve, teach'!" he said with a smirk and a wink.

Kakashi simply took the paper, clearly not amused, before glancing down at it and frowning. "'Teal'?"

Before Kakashi could say anything more, Naruto ripped the paper from his hands before he could utter even a _syllable_ of any other blasted color of the planet. In lightning speed, he blotched out the word, leaving a rather unattractive (not to mention huge) blob of ink on the left margin of his paper. He glanced up, but Gaara had not yet left the classroom. Of course. He was just brimming with luck today. Trying to be nonchalant, Naruto watched as Gaara soundlessly gathered his books and made his way out of the classroom. He could only pray that the teal-eyed student had not heard Kakashi. Before he had completely disappeared, Gaara did glance back at Naruto once.

"_What an idiot,"_ his eyes seemed to say. Scratch that; more like, _"What a _complete_ and _utter_ numskull."_ Naruto was just glad he didn't suspect anything.

"Ignore that," Naruto said with a cavalier wave of his hand, placing the paper back in his confused teacher's grasp. Gaara was finally gone. "Just doodling, you know how kids are these days…"

Kakashi just stared at him, clearly worrying about his mental health. "Kids these days…Riiight…Naruto, are you okay?"

"Yeah, of course," he said, inching away. "But I'm hungry now, so I'll catch you later." His fake smile never once left his face. Grabbing his bag and slinging it over his shoulder, Naruto waved until he had disappeared from the classroom. Kakashi just stared at him the entire time, one brow elevated, the other hidden by an eye patch. Just when he was about to turn to his desk, Naruto popped back in once more.

"It meant nothing," he added, fingers drumming oddly on his chin. "Just…doodling…"

Kakashi peered at him before looking momentarily at the paper with a grin. "If my class is actually eating your soul, one could argue that it probably means _something_."

Naruto gasped and looked like he wanted to say something, before forfeiting and leaving in an embarrassed huff. Marvelous. Simply marvelous.

ooo

"…So…" Sasuke said, regarding Naruto suspiciously. "You're telling me that you…wrote a..."

"Poem," Naruto finished, nodding in such a way that he was able to express his own confusion at his unexplainable actions.

"Right…" Sasuke's brows elevated, before he once again narrowed his gaze, carefully sounding the words out. "A poem…about…"

"Gaara, yes," Naruto once again added, saying what his friend found obvious difficulty in expressing. "But anyway, isn't this pork bun delicious?" He seemed to look at his meal and nod satisfactorily, as if he had just granted the pork bun permission to enter his mouth.

"Naruto…" Sasuke continued, folding his hands together. "You tell me that you—", he dragged the words out, "—wrote a poem about—about Gaara, of all people, and you don't expect me to be just a—," he reiterated his words by bringing his index finger and thumb very close together, "—just a _tad_ confused?"

Naruto's eyes wandered from Sasuke's to some place in the upper, right-hand corner of the cafeteria. "Hmmmmmm—no." And then he took a hearty bite of the steaming roll in his hand. "What I did expect you to do," Naruto said, after chewing and swallowing, "was to, oh, I don't know, support me? You could at least hide your shock a little."

The corners of Sasuke's mouth were starting to turn upward, however slightly. "You expect me…to _support_ you…," and then the wayward chuckle broke out, "for writing a poem about Gaara? Forgive me if my confusion seems slightly displaced, but," he didn't hide his overly-delighted smile. "But _you_ wrote a _poem_ about _Gaara._" And then he burst out laughing. Sasuke didn't laugh much, he didn't even smile much, but when he did, one knew he was genuinely amused.

Naruto could only narrow his gaze. "I _knew_ I shouldn't have told you. Yeah, laugh it up. You are _impossible_ to talk to!"

"Naruto, I'm sorry," Sasuke said between laughs, honestly trying to compose himself. "It's just…well, you wrote a poem about Gaara." And the laughter erupted again.

All around, girls nearly swooned at the sight of their beloved Sasuke laughing. Their jealousy at Naruto's ability to transform their usually stoic schoolmate caused many to develop a dislike of poor Naruto. That wasn't to say that they _all _disliked him; Naruto had his own small fan-base, for he was, after all, quite tall, and, despite his penchant for tomfoolery, he was an extremely kind and good-natured seventeen-year-old. The only problem was, despite his sizeable following, he couldn't get the one girl he liked to look his way for more than a few seconds. And he wrote poems about guys he didn't know. And his best friend found all of this profoundly hilarious.

Annoyed, Naruto rose from his chair. "You suck, Sasuke. You really suck," he said, as if he was discovering it for the first time. Making his way toward the cafeteria exit, he tried not to look as exasperated as he felt. He had barely made it halfway when Sasuke was at his side.

"Naruto, I'm sorry," he said, the remnants of his enjoyment still present in the form of a small smirk. "But you have to admit, it is a little bit funny."

Naruto glanced at him momentarily before facing forward. "Hilarious," he said flatly.

"No, seriously," Sasuke said, once they were in the nearly-vacant hall. "You're right," he agreed, looking rather sober. "I should have supported you. I'm sorry." Raising a brow, he extended his palm. "Let me read it?"

Naruto looked distrustfully at his hand, before pulling the folded loose-leaf from his pocket. "You're right," he said with a half-smirk, "…It is a _little _bit funny."

Sasuke mirrored his expression before taking the paper and unfolding it. Glancing downward, Naruto watched as his eyes scanned over the words, and he felt nervous for some inexplicable reason. Finally, Sasuke stopped, pausing for a moment before folding the paper back up and handing it back to his friend.

Naruto couldn't help but blink. "…Well?"

Sasuke faced him with unreadable ebony eyes. "It's good," he finally said, nodding slightly.

"What?"

"It's very, _very_ good."

Naruto couldn't help but blush slightly as he rubbed the back of his head. "Not really."

"No, it is," Sasuke repeated, and Naruto could tell that he was sincere. "I just have one question."

"Yeah, shoot."

Sasuke looked like he was trying to analyze him. "Are you gay?"

"No!" Naruto exclaimed avidly, Sasuke taking great enjoyment in his apparent frustration. "I love girls. _Only_ girls. I just…" he paused, struggling to think of the right words to say.

Sasuke tried to finish it for him. "Just…write poems about guys?"

Naruto was getting upset again, even though that was the only way to really explain it. _Because_ that was the only way was what upset him the most. "I can't explain it, okay? I just had to do it. It's over now, anyway."

"Naruto," Sasuke said after a bit. "I know you're not gay. What I do know, however, is how extremely easy it is to mess with you."

They both started walking, as it was drawing nearer to the end of the lunch period. More students were crowding into the hall at any rate, and such a conversation would create slight havoc if it got out. They didn't say much as they strolled down the hall; the only sound really came from the constant humming of Naruto's fingers as he dragged them across the lockers to his right.

At one point, Sasuke glanced over, somewhat absorbed by the calming sound. "Hey look," he said abruptly, stopping in his tracks.

Naruto halted with him, before his gaze followed Sasuke's. It landed on his hand. Wait, no, it was _above_ his hand.

Right on the name "Gaara".

Reflexively, Naruto pulled his hand back. A part of him said that it was just Gaara's locker, but the other part said that it was just _Gaara's_ locker. It was not decorated like the others around it, but it still held some lingering quality, like he had made an everlasting impression upon it.

"How weird," Sasuke commented, still staring at the temporary nameplate. "I didn't know he was a junior like us…"

"I guess so," said Naruto, taking a step back. "Let's just go."

But Sasuke remained rooted where he stood. And then, very casually, he inquired, "Aren't you going to give it to him?"

Naruto's head snapped in his direction, clear-blue eyes alive with disbelief. "Are you crazy? Why on earth would I give it to him?"

Sasuke boldly met his gaze. "Why not?"

"For a million reasons, Sasuke," Naruto stated, as though he should have known it. "For one, it's stupid."

"It's actually well-written."

"He's a _guy_."

"Just like any other classmate."

"He would know!"

"It's anonymous," Sasuke said succinctly. "He would never know."

Naruto was getting rather angry again, not because of how preposterous the idea seemed, but because it actually seemed reasonable. Blast it all; this was madness! The hall was even oddly empty at that time, almost asking him to do it.

"There's nothing on that piece of paper to incriminate you," continued Sasuke. "You can just slip it in, walk away, and indirectly tell him how you feel. In the end, he never knows who it's from, you can clear your mind, and everyone walks away happy."

Naruto chewed on his lower lip, carefully going over his words. No matter how he looked at it, _"indirectly tell him how you feel"_ sounded really…gay. But, it also seemed like closure to this afternoon's little adventure. Maybe if he did go through with Sasuke's suggestion and got rid of it, he would be able to free it from his mind and never think about it again. Except to laugh. Post-laughter is always good.

"It's up to you," Sasuke shrugged, securing his hands in his pockets.

Naruto pulled the poem out again, but did not unfold it. Holding up the square piece of parchment, he brought it close to his face, then held it at arms length before shoving it into the small vent on Gaara's locker. "Let's just go," he said quickly, before Sasuke could say anything. Speed-walking had never felt so natural.

Sasuke only smirked, easily matching his stride and patting the blond on the back. "You'll be glad you did that."

Naruto didn't look back. He sincerely hoped with all his might that Sasuke would be right.

ooo

He had slept perfectly that night. Naruto had never experienced such a placid sleep in a _very_ long time. He woke up before his alarm, arrived early to school, and had even finished his homework on time. After slipping the note into the locker, Naruto never thought about it again, or about the teal eyes which had enchanted him just one day prior.

That was why he was extremely confused and extremely _horrified _when he found said teal-eyed-stranger leaning by his locker the next day. Gaara didn't see him at first, so Naruto considered the option of pivoting and running away. This didn't work for two reasons. Reason the first, Naruto couldn't bring himself to look away. His sight was glued to the red-haired teen, more out of overwhelming bewilderment than allure this time. Even in his fear, he was able to finally get a more close-up view of him. Even his lean figure was somehow unique. His arms were crossed loosely in front of him, the heel of his right foot just barely touching Naruto's locker. He made the school uniform look good. Definitely eyebrowless, definitely thin (though this realization was rather new), and definitely…something else. Naruto decided rather quickly that that "something else" was bad, and he did _not_ want his mind to linger on it.

Reason the second, Gaara had already noticed him standing there. His level turquoise gaze seemed to hold Naruto prisoner, before he blinked and the magic was gone. Straightening, Gaara uncrossed his arms, closing the distance between them with each agonizing step. Why did they have to be alone in the hallway? Naruto wasn't _that _early was he? Or maybe he was. He didn't know anything anymore. All he knew was that the stranger whom he had written an anonymous poem to was now less than a foot away from him.

When Gaara pulled the crumpled paper from his pocket, it was by some unknown force that Naruto did not pass out then and there. Or run. Or laugh hysterically. Or any combination of the three. Gaara held the folded paper between his index and middle finger and just barely tapped it against Naruto's chest. Even through his navy vest and white button-up, Naruto could swear his skin was burning.

That mouth, that cursèd mouth which had started this whole ordeal, twitched at one corner, before the faintly pink lips parted. If he had eyebrows, Naruto could imagine that one would probably be arched. His eyes were darkly rimmed, the black fading into the pale complexion of his skin. He looked so much better up close.

He also looked mildly perturbed. "Uzumaki Naruto, right?" Gaara asked, finally speaking up.

Naruto swallowed hard, and prayed that his voice would work. "…Yes." It actually came out sounding much more calm and unaltered that he had bargained for. "Anything I can help you with?"

"There is…" Gaara pulled the letter back, but didn't look at it once. Even an inch or so shorter that Naruto, his penetrating gaze more than made up for his height. "You can tell me why, Uzumaki Naruto, you put this in my locker."

"_You'll be glad you did that."_

Sasuke's words reverberated through his mind, and Naruto decided that if he made it away from this confrontation alive, he was definitely going to_ kill_ Sasuke.

oooTBCooo

Well, I did it. I literally got the inspiration to write this story during my 9am Anthropology class today/(yesterday). I can't believe I wrote this when I still have an analytical paper to write tonight. And it's much longer than I had intended—roughly 2,000 words longer. And it's 2:05am (please forgive and alert me of any errors). But, at least _my_ mind is at peace, though Naruto looks to be not so lucky…

Drop me a review? Though I have four papers due next week, they may prove inspiring (as they always do :D). Until next chapter!


	2. Coming Out of the Closet

**Chapter 2**: Coming Out of the Closet

The first thing Naruto did was to make sure that he and Gaara were, in fact, alone in the hallway. After ensuring that, he released a weary breath and braved himself for the coming storm, which manifested itself neatly within the body of the boy before him. Gaara still stood expectantly, note in hand, the other propped on his hip. His eyes seemed to glitter dangerously, but perhaps that was only Naruto's imagination.

"Uzumaki," Gaara said, face twisting into one of perturbation. "The letter?"

Immediately Naruto looked around again at the mention of the poem, before his hand closed silently over Gaara's. The note was carefully concealed beneath his grasp, and even Naruto was surprised at how nicely his hand fit over his current companion's. Gaara was a different matter. His irritation ceased as he glanced at their conjoined hands, but the dulled confusion was immediately replaced with even more annoyance. 

"What on earth—?" he began, but quieted as Naruto prompted to pull him along down the hallway. Actually, it was more of a_ drag_, as Gaara was not prepared at _all_ to be lead anywhere, and so he naturally tried to stand still. When this failed, mostly due to Naruto's surprising strength, he could do little else than skid and trip along down the hall, his hand still held tight by the blond.

"Aha, this should do," Naruto said enthusiastically, before suddenly stopping in place. 

Gaara wasn't prepared, and so he ended up crashing a little into his back. "_What_ should do?" he inquired, voice picking up an angry tone. Before he could receive an answer, he was pulled sideways into a room where everything suddenly went black. A wave of silence engulfed the area, mingling darkly with the negative illumination. A small part of him actually felt like panicking at the sudden loss of light, but for some reason, the warmth that spread through his hand seemed to travel up his arm as well, and Gaara was reminded that he was not alone. 

"Whoops," came an apologetic reply. There was a bit of fumbling before a quiet _click_ resounded through the area and a light above finally kindled their surroundings. Around them, stacks of books lined the walls, and few had even started gathering dust. Naruto's smile seemed to shed some light as well. "Guess the bookroom will have to do."

Gaara glimpsed from his cheery face to their hands, which were still linked. Naruto seemed to read his mind, for he quickly let go, his hand finding respite in his pocket. 

"I hope you have an adequate explanation for this, Uzumaki," Gaara said quietly, bringing his own hand to rest at his side.

Naruto drummed his fingers on his lower lip, face somewhat regretful. He seemed to be considering the situation. "I know this is probably confusing…"

"_Very."_ Gaara was back to being annoyed. "Had I known you were going to kidnap me, I never would have mentioned the note."

Naruto's eyes widened at the mention of the small, yet significant piece of paper. "The note…right. Listen, Gaara," he said, because it was the only name he knew, "I'm really sorry about this. And about…the letter."

Gaara's eyes narrowed. "So, you're not going to deny it?"

His heart was beating wildly, but Naruto tried his best to appear composed. "How can I?" he said with a defeated grin, "You got me." His life was over. It was really and truly over. Whenever this conversation ended, Naruto might really consider remaining in the book closet for the rest of the day. Or week. Or even his life. Hopefully Sasuke would have the courtesy to bring him food, blankets, and clothes, seeing as he was the cause of this glorious ordeal.

Gaara leaned forward a little, his eyes still brimming with uncertainty. That and skepticism. "You're really owning up to it?"

Naruto leaned back, nervous at the sudden proximity. "That's right." Maybe if he just admitted it, Gaara would leave. Hopefully.

With a sigh, Gaara assumed his previous stance, his eyes travelling absentmindedly to the note in his hand. "Why did you do it?" 

His expression had lost some of the impatience, the blue-green eyes now mildly troubled. It was an odd sensation, but Naruto felt the unusual urge to hug him. It was so sudden and so _unsettling_ that he was sure to clasp his hands behind his back just in case. 

"Why did I do it?" Naruto repeated, the tug of his smirk beginning to loosen. Why _had_ he done it? What on earth had possessed him to do such a crazy thing? Gaara's eyes lifted to meet his own, his mouth twitching a bit as blue met blue-green in the small space. That was all it took for the blond to remember. The only problem was, he couldn't exactly say that the inquirer's mouth had sprung forth the work. That probably wouldn't bode too well. 

Naruto's gaze found itself upon the crumpled note, before it travelled up his arm, past his chest, and above his neck. 

"Uzumaki…?" said Gaara expectantly. His patience was obviously wearing thin, but Naruto's attention was elsewhere. Watching his name play across Gaara's lips was a very bad idea. There was something oddly enthralling about it, which made absolutely no sense seeing as Gaara's mouth was almost no different from anyone else's he had seen. 

_Almost._

Snapping out of his fleeting trance, Naruto sighed, fully prepared to try and confess the details of the ordeal, but before he could say anything more, the door to the closet opened, spilling even brighter light into the room and blinding both inhabitants momentarily.

"I may never see again," Naruto said, rubbing his eyes. Though, considering that his eyes were the root of the problem, that might not necessarily be a bad thing.

"Uzumaki-kun?..._Gaara-_kun?" came a familiar tone.

Naruto's eyes shot open, and he was sure his heart had stopped. "Kakashi-sensei?"

The silver-haired teacher stood stock-still—one hand resting on the doorknob, while the other rubbed his chin before reaching for a book. His visible eye had no problem revealing his apparent confusion. "What are you two doing in here?"

Naruto laughed nervously. "It's a long story. Actually, it's _too_ long. And boring. You probably wouldn't want to hear it—"

Kakashi blinked. "You two _know_ each other?"

"Yes."

"No," Gaara countered. "He dragged me here, and I have yet to hear a reasonable explanation."

With an arch of his brow, Kakashi turned to Naruto. "Really?"

"Heh," Naruto emitted another nervous laugh, "it's not what it sounds like." Actually, it was, which might have been worst of all. How was he going to explain this to his teacher? He had dragged a guy into a closet. He had dragged_ Gaara_ into a closet. If _anyone_ was going to be dragging anyone _else_ into a closet, it was going to be a guy dragging a girl. Yet Naruto had chosen Gaara. 

"I don't think you want to know what it _sounds_ like, you two," Kakashi said with a sigh. Naruto felt his pride diminish. "Either way, I do have to talk to the both of you, so please come with me."

If there had been anything worse than being caught in a closet full of books with another guy, it was _emerging _from a closet full of books with another guy. To top things off, Naruto was accompanied by _two_ guys, and one just happened to be a teacher, which usually meant that someone was in trouble. The halls were no longer vacant, a fact which was made painfully aware to Naruto due to the increasing amounts of stares they received as they proceeded down the hall. Oddly enough, most of the people he glanced around at were not looking at him, but instead, had their gazes fixed to Gaara. The buzz of whispers floated through the hall, but when Naruto looked at Gaara, the red-haired teen was unaffected. He stared straight forward, head held high, which gave Naruto the confidence to do the same. 

ooo

"Now then," Kakashi folded his hands on his desk, facing the classroom's only two other occupants. "I'm going to dismiss the little closet incident, but you two should know you should not be cavorting in the bookroom. Am I clear?"

Naruto looked up from his lap, his expression one of remorse. "It was my fault, sensei," he said hesitantly. "I was the one who dragged him there. If anyone is to be punished, let it be me."

"I was the one who approached him," Gaara stated flatly. "That aside, what is your business with us?"

Kakashi glanced from Gaara to Naruto, an unreadable expression in his limited gaze, before he closed his eye and released yet another sigh. "Right. Let me start with you, Naruto." Reaching into one of his desk drawers, he pulled out a few pieces of stapled paper. "Last night I was able to grade a few of the assignments you all turned in yesterday, when I had the pleasure of grading yours, Uzumaki-kun."

Naruto's brows knitted together. "Was it really that good?"

"Well," he said, taking another look at the paper in his hands, "I had to take off some points for the lovely blue amoeba in the left-hand margin, but luckily it didn't affect the grade too much."

"Really?" said Naruto hopefully. 

"Really," came Kakashi's reassuring reply. "See for yourself."

He extended the paper towards the blond, who gratefully accepted it with a smile. The smile did not last long. Actually, there was a moment where Kakashi was sure that Naruto's face held a strong resemblance with Munch's famous "The Scream" painting, but it soon faded as he lost all emotion, his head hanging dejectedly. 

"I thought you said it was okay," Naruto said dismally.

"Oh no," Kakashi said, sporting a cheerful grin. "I said your grade wasn't affected much."

"If the amoeba was so _lovely_," Naruto's voice accented the last word in a dangerous tone, "then why in the world did you take off _ten_ points for it?"

"Hm…" Kakashi seemed to stroke a non-existent beard. "Actually, I would have only taken off five points had you left the acrostic unmarred." Leaning over toward Gaara, he whispered, "_Teal_," with a suggestive wriggle of his eyebrows.

"Sensei," said Naruto between clenched teeth, finally bringing himself to look at him. Forget the fact that Kakashi was cavalierly spouting the wretched color. No, there were now more important matters to sort out. "You gave me a _29-_percent!"

Kakashi sat back in his chair, drumming his fingertips on his desk. "I know. It was a horrible paper."

"Then why say it was a _pleasure_ to grade?" For a moment, Naruto's mind played out an identical situation in which the kid in his spot leapt forward and knocked out Kakashi's eye. He was sure that must've been how it had happened.

"Oh, it _was_ a pleasure," Kakashi insisted. "It was one of the funniest papers I've ever read. This is where Gaara-kun comes in."

Naruto brought himself to glimpse at Gaara. Somehow, "funny" and "Gaara" did not go well together. It was actually a fearful combination for poor Uzumaki Naruto.

"I'll put it to you simply," Kakashi continued, pulling another paper out of his desk drawer. "You and Gaara are going to be seeing a lot of each other in the coming days ahead, and not just in the closet."

Naruto felt his resolve plummet. "What?" Maybe he hadn't heard that. Maybe, just _maybe_ he had _not_ heard that. Looking up, he took ahold of the other paper which Kakashi had extended toward him. It almost seemed to glow, the three red numbers at the top shining the brightest. "A 100-percent..." he muttered, the grade like a far-off dream. "What kind of no-life got this—"

He nearly jumped when he read the name. Gaara? _Really_? Was Naruto _really _that unlucky? Why did it have to be _him_ that was inspired to write a poem? Why did it have to be _Gaara _with the nice mouth? Why couldn't it have been a girl? Why on _earth _couldn't it have been a girl?

"I'm going to be blunt," Kakashi stated gravely. "You are failing my class, Uzumaki-kun."

Naruto pushed a hand through his hair and rubbed his temple. "I see."

"I have taken the liberty of assigning Gaara as your English tutor."

"I understand, wait—_what_?" If Naruto had been at all tired before this moment, he was awake now. Very awake, very _shocked_, and still very consciously aware of the little note which rested safely in Gaara's pocket. He was also very sure that 1 in 637 were not very good odds that he would be the pedestrian to die going home.

"Gaara has the highest grade in the class. If there's anyone who can help you, it's him," Kakashi said with a smile. Turning his joyful expression on the red-haired student, he arched his visible brow. "It's up to you. He_ has_ to pass this class. Not to pressure you or anything, but his future essentially lies in your hands."

Naruto leaned on his knuckles and looked toward the window. He would not be surprised if Gaara declined; he_ wanted_ him to. Gaara made him do strange things, and Naruto had a feeling that if he continued to involve himself with his teal-eyed classmate, writing anonymous letters and pulling guys into bookrooms would be the least of his worries. 

"I'll do it," Gaara said listlessly, rising to his feet. Glancing at Naruto for a brief moment, he looked back at Kakashi with something akin to cynicism in his cool gaze. "Don't expect a miracle." Pulling his bag over his shoulder, he left without another word.

It took Naruto a few more seconds to realize that he had just been insulted. 

"I think you two make a fine match," Kakashi said, his grin still gracing his features. "I mean, you two _did_ just come out of the closet together—literally, not figuratively, of course." He seemed to be suppressing a laugh.

Naruto just plastered an obviously-fake smile on his own face. "Of course."

"I have faith in you, Naruto. Be sure to take care of Gaara."

"But he's _my _tutor," Naruto said, obviously confused. "…Shouldn't _he_ take care of _me_?"

Kakashi just smiled.

ooo

"My, my," Sasuke mused, mulling over Naruto's words. "That _is _quite a predicament, isn't it?"

Across the table from him, Naruto fumed. "Do you see what you have done?"

"Did_ I_ write the love letter?"

"You just get funnier everday, Uchiha," Naruto said, balling his fists on the lunch table. "You know it was not a love letter."

"Did you really pull him into a closet?" Sasuke queried, tilting his head somewhat.

"What else could I do? I get to school only to find Gaara standing by my locker. Not only that, but he whips out the letter I had written him…The _anonymous_ letter." His sky-blue eyes sparkled even in his exasperation. "I thought he wasn't supposed to know, Sasuke."

Sasuke just nodded in agreement. "He wasn't."

"And I was supposed to clear my mind. I don't think I have to tell you how screwed up my mind is right now."

"Definitely not; I've always known."

Naruto bit back a retort, but his sarcastic smirk was still ever-present on his face. "My life is over. It really is over. At least before, I could have ignored him and avoided him, but thanks to this tutoring ordeal, that will be impossible."

Sasuke laced his fingers together, resting his chin on his thumbs. "I fail to see how this is as horrible as you're making it seem, Naruto. This way, you can get to know him."

Naruto leaned back, resting his arms behind his head. "The more I get to know him, the closer I'll get to having to tell him the truth about the letter."

"Just tell him, then," Sasuke said with a shrug. "It's not that bad. You can just say that you found his mouth…interesting." But in that moment, they both understood how complicated it really was. 

Naruto's thoughts flashed back to Gaara's steely, turquoise gaze. "If I were to tell him that, what are the odds that he _wouldn't _think I was gay? I mean, if I were him," he said, balancing on his chair's back two legs, "_I_ would think I was gay."

"That _would_ be a problem," came Sasuke's reply.

"What?" Naruto said, pausing in place.

"Well, _Gaara's_ gay."

The lunchroom was suddenly alive with the clatter of Naruto's chair as he fell backwards. In an instant, he had corrected himself, silently dusting off his clothes and taking a seat back in his stool.

Sasuke blinked across the table at his slightly disheveled friend. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Naruto said, tucking a lock of gold behind his ear, "I just thought I had heard you say that Gaara is gay."

"…I did."

Naruto narrowed his gaze, before almost breaking into a laugh. "That's a good one, Sasuke. I almost believed you."

"I'm serious," Sasuke responded, face stoic as usual.

"Right…" Turning to the lunch table behind him, Naruto tapped a girl on the shoulder. 

The brunette turned, smiling when she saw that it was Naruto. "Uzumaki-kun, do you need something?"

"Is Gaara gay?" he asked, getting straight to the point. The look on his face was a clear indication that he thought this to all be some grand fabrication. 

The girl's smile instantly faded. "Yes, he is," she said, and then her face took on a suspicious air. "…Why?"

"No reason," Naruto said quickly, waving his hands before him. "I'm straight by the way," he said with a fake salute. "Love the women…" The girl merely turned back around, face still a little wary. When Naruto turned back to face Sasuke, however, his expression was one of dulled frustration. "You didn't think it would be important to tell me that I was writing a poem to a gay guy?"

"It would have defeated the purpose," Sasuke said casually. "Besides, you'd already written a poem," he broke into a grin. "…It couldn't get much more gay than that." 

It wasn't hard to tell that Sasuke was struggling not to laugh again. That meant that he _still_ found this entire situation to be quite amusing, regardless of the negative effects it was having on his friend. But that wasn't what angered Naruto the most. No, he was angriest at himself for not ensuring beforehand that the recipient of his love letter was actually straight. Ahem, _anonymous_ letter. The next time he saw Gaara he would be sure to put things back in correct order.

What a fine mess this was turning out to be, and all because of some kid's stupid, good-looking mouth.

oooTBCooo

This is a day late from when I had originally planned to finished it, and for that I greatly apologize. I'm finally on my spring break, though, so I have more time to devote to it. My thoughts on it have really been developing these past few days, and I'm excited at what is to come. The only problem is I had to get past the foundations, which was essentially this chapter. I'm sorry if it bored you. The action and interaction were almost nil, but I had to lay the groundwork, seeing as these two will be seeing a _lot _of each other in the coming chapters. And don't worry; you will find out how Gaara knew about the letter ;D 

Speaking of, I need your input. Regarding future happenings, would you rather this story remained T, in which it would just be a nice shounen-ai story with limited/little "action",_ or, _would you care if it eventually raised to M, which means full-out yaoi with lime and lemon abound (ok, so maybe not _abound_…). I'm just asking because sometimes when I read what's been written, it seems very sugary-sweet at times, like it'll be an innocent little relationship, so I don't want you to be like WTF later on. Especially considering some of my little musings…Let's just say I should definitely warn you. I care about your soul-scarring XP 

That aside, thanks for reading!


	3. Involuntary Magnetism

**Chapter 3**: Involuntary Magnetism

Every so often, a black puff of smoke was emitted into the air as the bus made its way throughout the city. On that particular afternoon, there was a larger crowd of occupants than usual, and so Naruto and Sasuke were left standing, with only a thin rail overhead to provide support. Sasuke stared out the window, but Naruto was looking elsewhere, _nowhere_ really, as his mind was drifting back to the topic of discussion during lunch.

"…_Gaara's gay."_

Why did it have to be so? It was an entirely selfish and downright _childish_ thought when he considered it, but he couldn't stop himself from thinking it. Gaara liked guys. Gaara liked _guys_. Naruto was a guy. Was there a possibility Gaara might come to like him?

"You're thinking about it, aren't you?" Sasuke suddenly declared rather than asked, eyes still scanning the blur of color outside.

"Wha—no," Naruto quickly said, his manner a bit sheepish.

"Yes you are. Don't think about it."

Naruto frowned a little, glancing at his feet. Earlier, it had seemed like a joke, but now…now it bothered him. "I'm not thinking about it, Sasuke."

Sasuke looked over at Naruto as the brakes took hold, the bus slowly rolling to a stop. Releasing the bar, he started toward the exit, but stopped at the steps and faced him again. "I mean it," he said calmly. "Don't think about it."

Naruto raised his head and took in a breath, fully prepared to retort, but Sasuke was already gone. Releasing a tired sigh, he leaned back against the window, his head hitting the glass with a soft _thump_.

"_Uzumaki…?" _

Naruto closed his eyes as his own name echoed in his head, but it wasn't his own voice saying it. It was Gaara. Squeezing his lids even tighter, he watched as the dancing colors behind his eyelids mingled until they took on a certain hue. It looked suspiciously teal.

"_Why did you do it?"_

Why, indeed. There were so many _why_'s floating around in his head, it was making his mind reel. Why did he write the letter; why did it have to be Gaara; why was Gaara gay? Why couldn't he stop thinking about him? That was the biggest _why_ of all.

Suddenly his phone vibrated, and Naruto was glad to focus his attention elsewhere. Drawing it out of his pocket, he flipped open the screen and downloaded the incoming text message. It was from Sasuke.

_/You're thinking about it again, aren't you? Stop it, dobe./_

Naruto smiled a little, despite the insult. Sasuke was right; thinking about it was only making him more confused and bothered. But still, something nagged lightly at his brain—something from earlier that day. Why did everyone seem to know Gaara's sexual orientation? Further, why was everyone seemingly gossiping about Gaara when they walked with Kakashi down the hall? Was there something Naruto didn't know?

When his phone went off, he was so surprised that he nearly threw it out of his hands. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he flipped open his phone once again and placed it by his ear, a swift rebuttal already prepared.

"I'm not thinking about it, Sasuke!" he avowed heatedly, almost laughing nonetheless.

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line. "I'm sorry if I interrupted something, but this isn't Sasuke." The tone was anything _but _sorry, actually. Actually, it wasn't much of anything at all, if not monotonous and flat. That and dangerously familiar. "This is Gaara."

Naruto froze, blue eyes widening substantially. For a moment, he pulled back the phone and glanced at the LCD to make sure Sasuke wasn't playing a prank, but the displayed number was neither recognizable nor registered. He put the phone back to his ear again. "Hello…Gaara." It was strange to say the name for some reason, possibly because it hadn't been long since "Gaara" and "gay" had been used in the same sentence, with a strong linkage between the two.

"Tomorrow. After school," Gaara's level voice stated. "We'll begin then. Meet me at my locker since you already seem to know where it is, Uzumaki."

"But—," Naruto started, the hum of the dial tone cutting him off. There seemed to be sarcasm in that last sentence, but Naruto couldn't be sure. He wasn't really sure of anything, except for the fact that there was a strong possibility he was about to be taken out by a sniper rifle. How did Gaara have his number? He almost felt like he was being watched, before regretfully realizing that it was because those turquoise eyes seemed to follow him everywhere. Curse it all.

Thrusting his phone in his pocket, Naruto shrugged back against the window, arms crossed before him. Cursing beneath his breath, he shifted to another position that _didn't_ remind him of his initial confrontation with Gaara, but the turquoise eyes never stopped glittering in his mind.

ooo

The next day came quickly, a little _too_ quickly for Naruto, who had developed a mild fear of his impending meeting with Gaara that would follow that afternoon. The preceding evening had progressed rather uneventfully, aside from a bothersome email from Kakashi.

"_I had forgotten to mention that I need to meet with a parent or guardian, preferably tomorrow. They can meet with me after school and shouldn't be kept too long; I simply need to make them aware of the details of your grade and current situation. I know it's inconvenient, but it's procedure. See you tomorrow."_

It _was_ inconvenient. More than that it was frustrating, because Naruto didn't have any parents and so he would _have_ to bring his guardian. He could only imagine how that would go.

"It'll be fine," Sasuke said calmly, gathering the trash from his lunch.

Naruto just looked at him, a golden brow rising skyward. "I hope."

Sasuke smirked, but it was more worldly than condescending, if smirks could even be classified as such. "How did things go yesterday?"

Naruto clapped his hands together as if a thought had suddenly come to his mind. "That's right; Gaara called me."

Sasuke didn't look surprised. "He did?"

"Yeah," confirmed Naruto, narrowing his gaze a little as he recalled the event. "It was weird. How did he get my number?"

"Good question."

Naruto sighed and folded his hands, bringing himself to rest on his arms. "It's _all_ so weird."

"What is?"

"Everything right now. I just can't figure something out…How does everyone know about Gaara? Everyone but me it seems."

Sasuke looked at Naruto for a moment before speaking. "You were absent that day."

Naruto glanced up, clear blue locking with unreadable ebony. "Absent?"

"The day the letter was posted."

"Letter?" Naruto repeated, sitting up. Anything regarding a letter of any sort seemed to have him up in arms lately. "What letter?"

"Ah, you've shown up," Sasuke suddenly said, a strangely displaced, congenial smile breaking his stoicism. Naruto wrinkled his nose, confusion blatantly displayed before he turned and faced where Sasuke seemed to be looking.

Before that moment, he'd never stood up so fast. The best part was, he didn't even know _why_ he was standing up, but unexpectedly seeing Gaara behind him made him want to stand. Naruto didn't even think he'd ever seen Gaara in the cafeteria prior to that instant.

"Good lunch day to you that you're having?" The words came out before he could stop them, or think about them, or even care. What in the world had he just said?

Gaara stared at him, face edged with something like pity. It wasn't sad pity, but rather the complete-and-utter-numbskull kind of pity. "No wonder you're failing," was all he said before moving past Naruto and taking his seat.

Naruto's jaw dropped for roughly a second, before he slowly turned to face the newcomer. He wanted to say something like "That's _my_ seat", or "Where do you think _you're_ sitting?", but some mature counterpart of his psyche stopped him. He was still mad that his chair had been taken though, even if Gaara did have a nice mouth.

"You can have my chair, Naruto," Sasuke said, rising to his feet and pulling out his chair in mild offering.

Naruto grimaced a bit, trying to be discrete in putting across to Sasuke the fact that he had better sit back down and _fast_. There was no way he was going to be alone with Gaara. _Gay_ Gaara. Sasuke merely stared at him and cocked his head slightly to the side, before proving that one could actually shrug with their eyelids. Trying not to heave too obvious of a sigh, Naruto nudged his elbow in Gaara's direction. Sasuke just blinked before glancing at Gaara and making a little "Ohhh" look with his eyes. Releasing a relieved breath, Naruto was glad Sasuke seemed to get the point.

But why was Sasuke still not sitting down? And why was Sasuke gathering his trash? And why was Sasuke_ still_ going to leave Naruto alone with Gaara? Before he left the table, however, Sasuke did pause to glance at the red-head, before facing Naruto with an expression of agreement.

"Definitely cinnamon spice," he commented, in clear earshot of Gaara, before walking past a slack-jawed Naruto and leaving the lunchroom.

Naruto was going to kill him. The only problem was death would be too considerate a punishment for such an evil friend.

"Don't ask," he managed to say, wringing his hands and taking Sasuke's proffered seat. Maybe his smile was a little too artificial. Maybe Gaara really was sent to kill him and would hopefully make his move now.

Instead of busting out a machine gun, or at least demonstrating ninja-killing-efficiency with a plastic knife, Gaara just stared at him. "I wasn't going to."

"_Fine, because I wasn't going to tell you anyway,"_ was what Naruto _wanted_ to say, but he quickly willed such immature thoughts away and tried his hardest to keep on a smile. "So what brings you here today?" he asked, immediately finding the question stupid. More importantly, _he_ was stupid for even staying at the table in the first place.

Gaara looked away for a moment, before facing Naruto with slightly distrustful eyes, as if _he_ was the one with the ulterior motive. "Don't be late today. I'm sacrificing my afternoon for you."

Finally his smile broke, and Naruto couldn't help but scowl. "Is that all you have to say?"

"What else could I possibly have to say to you?" His countenance was unremitting, neither revealing dissatisfaction nor displeasure. Nor _anything_ for that matter. It was unnerving.

"You could ask how I'm doing," Naruto suggested. "How my morning was, how my yesterday was, how my life is? Any of the above are acceptable choices." _Human _choices was more like it.

"You're assuming that I actually care, Uzumaki." And then, as if to clear up any possible confusion, he added, "I don't."

It was with great effort that Naruto didn't wring the boy's neck. "If you don't care, then why did you agree to tutor me?"

Gaara's eyes narrowed a minute fraction, but it was a fraction, nonetheless. "I _will_ tell you that it has nothing to do with this…" From nowhere, he seemed to manifest the note. Naruto could have died, only that would require that his life went as planned.

"Why are you carrying that around?" he said loudly, before lowering his voice and putting his face in his hands. At this point, Gaara may as well have put it on a keychain, what with the way he flashed it at every worst possible occasion. "Are you_ trying_ to torture me?" He then progressed to mumble on and on about how his life really was over, and how everyone would say he died young and before his time. Emitting a defeated breath, he sluggishly pulled his head up toward Gaara.

It was strange, but Gaara seemed to be laughing. This was, of course, in his own way. Anyone else might not have been able to notice it, but Naruto felt that he could see some sliver of amusement in those glittering, sapphire-green orbs. For a moment, they almost seemed alive. For a moment, they almost seemed…pretty.

"No," Naruto said quickly, before realizing he had actually said it. It was directed toward himself, but Gaara seemed to think otherwise.

"No?" he repeated impassively, with just enough inflection to make it a question.

"No, I won't be late today," Naruto smiled, kicking himself inside. No, he did not almost consider Gaara's eyes to be pretty. Not now, not _ever_. "As for that," he motioned towards the note, which Gaara held loosely within his grasp. "You better take care of it. And don't wave it around so much…common courtesy. I sacrificed my _honor_ for you."

Gaara's expression (or lack thereof) seemed to take on a perplexed quality. Naruto laughed a little, more at himself than Gaara, before putting his hands up in mock surrender. A small part of him wanted to pat Gaara on the head, and he seriously had to remind himself that it would probably be a bad idea. Gaara didn't seem to be the type to take a head pat, which was weird, because sometimes he just looked so head-pattable. And huggable. The problem was, there were times when Gaara simply looked _touchable_, and Naruto didn't have to be a genius to know that presented a slight dilemma.

"Peculiar," Gaara said succinctly, prior to exiting his chair. "You are very peculiar, Uzumaki."

Naruto blinked at the unexpected proclamation, pushing out his chair and facing Gaara as an equal. How on earth was _he_ the peculiar one? At least Naruto could say that he still had his eyebrows. "If you were going to make fun of me, why did you even bother joining me for lunch?"

"It was not my choice," stated the red-haired student gallingly. "Sasuke asked me to come." The way he said it translated to, _"Trust me, I would _never_ eat with you if the decision was left up to me." _And then he left.

Naruto stayed behind for a moment, debating which class period it would be easiest to kill Sasuke in.

ooo

Gaara wasn't at his locker after school. That was the first instance that annoyed Naruto. He ended up standing there for about five minutes, gaining numerous stares and chuckles, before he gave up and left. This was further made insufferable by fact that he then had to go and see Kakashi with his guardian. Kakashi's happy-go-lucky grin was the second happening which annoyed him. Naruto was failing class; what was there to smile about?

"Welcome, Naruto-kun," Kakashi beamed as he held the door open, ushering the blond inside. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd show."

"Like I'd miss this," grumbled Naruto sarcastically, plopping down in one of the classroom seats.

"Did you make a pit-stop on your way here? The closet, perhaps?"

"Very funny, sensei." He wasn't laughing.

"So where is your representative adult?" the teacher inquired. He spun his glasses around his index finger before placing them on his desk. "I'm sorry to say that you cannot be your own."

"He's coming, sensei."

The door clicked open, almost like clock-work, and Naruto cringed as he awaited the stern lecture that was sure to follow.

Kakashi just crossed his arms, tilting his head a little to the side. "Gaara-kun does not qualify either."

Naruto squinted a bit at his words. "_Gaara_-kun?"

"You're late, Uzumaki," came a level, yet nonetheless scary declaration from somewhere near the back of the room.

Again, Naruto jumped out of his seat, and he wasn't sure why, but he pointed his finger as well. "It's _you_!"

Gaara seemed to sigh, though it was subtle, before he casually approached Naruto. "Honestly, who else would it be?" There seemed to be a _–you idiot_ missing at the end of that sentence, judging by his tone.

"Naruto, you are in _deep_ trouble!" a new, even more sinister voice affirmed, and Naruto just grinned and managed a small wave.

"Iruka-sensei, hello," he said enthusiastically, changing behavior entirely.

"Don't you 'hello' me, young man," the adult said, stomping into the room and straight to Naruto's side. "You're failing? _Failing_? Naruto, how could you do this? How can you _fail_ English?" There was a possibility that his disbelief stemmed from the fact that he, too, was a teacher at Konoha. He had just started that year, but his passion for passing knowledge on to the youth of the world was still brighter than many.

"It wasn't my plan or anything, I assure you." The window on the far side of the room was starting to look inviting. They were about three stories up, so that might be enough for _at least_ a broken leg.

"Failing," he repeated, as though he believed himself to be dreaming. He shook his head, sending the hair in his ponytail in all directions. "Who is your teacher? I'll have a nice talk with _them_."

Naruto pointed over his shoulder and Iruka followed his gaze, pausing then gasping. "Kakashi-sensei…"

Kakashi blinked. "Iruka-sensei," he seemed somewhat surprised as well, before breaking into a fairly sly grin. "My dearest student-teacher. _You're_ Naruto's guardian? How convenient."

"_Former_ student-teacher," Iruka glared, though suspicion wavered beneath his gaze. "I should have known it would be you." Marching over to the silver-haired man's desk, he even went so far as to poke his chest. "What exactly is going on?" Glancing to the miscellaneous objects on the table, he picked up the pair of glasses. "And what are _these_? You don't even _wear_ glasses!"

"But I like them," Kakashi defended. "They make me look smart." He seemed to contemplate something before adding, "Maybe _you_ should get some, Iruka."

"Very funny."

Naruto sighed and slumped down in his chair, the rumble of conversation carrying on not too far away. "Lovely." He turned a little the side, "I'm sorry you got dragged into this, Gaara."

Gaara, who had been sitting silently two chairs down, simply glimpsed at Naruto and stood. Running a hand through his hair and brushing it noncommittally into place, he pulled his book-bag on one shoulder, taking a wayward volume in his hand and exiting the classroom.

Naruto blinked and hurried into the hall after him. Despite being quiet and an inch shorter, he still had a fast pace. "Gaara, where are you going?" he asked, walking beside him.

Gaara didn't turn to face him. He simply said, "Home."

"But why?" Naruto asked, stopping without warning. Gaara would've kept on walking, but Naruto reached out and grabbed him by the wrist. He knew he shouldn't have done it approximately one second before he did it. It wasn't soon enough. The wrist was cold at first, but it warmed substantially as the time crept by, a simple moment spanning into a kind of eternity. Gaara slowly turned in Naruto's direction, looking first at his arm and then finally matching his gaze.

_A cool beauty._ For some reason, that's what Naruto thought when he looked at Gaara then. His red hair fell messily this way and that, and his mouth was set in a fine line. His gleaming eyes revealed little, but the dark orbs seemed to lay blame on Naruto. _Let go_, they seemed to demand crossly. _Let go_.

Naruto pulled his hand back, holding it with the other as if it had been burned. His system felt jarred, and he regretted ever touching him, ever knowing him at all.

Gaara turned and continued down the hall. "Tomorrow, Uzumaki…Don't be late."

Naruto wanted to reply angrily, but his thoughts weren't forming normally. Nothing seemed normal anymore. All he could think of was how there was a brief moment in which he could've sworn he had felt that compelling pull, that magnetic compulsion one feels when they are about to kiss someone.

ooo

Pushing his key into the door, Gaara turned the doorknob and entered his home, dropping his bag by the entrance. The house was quiet again, and only the low hum of the air conditioner spread throughout the halls. Glancing at his wrist, Gaara narrowed his gaze slightly and proceeded through the foyer.

_Unsettling_. That was the word Gaara would use to describe Naruto. He was simply unsettling, and Gaara didn't like it. Worst of all was the fact that his stupid grin seemed to be embedded in his thoughts, no matter how hard he tried to disregard it. Everything about him seemed genuine—genuine anger, irritation, expression...Genuine kindness. Genuine _stupidity_ was more like it.

"Gaara, is that you?" a voice echoed into the hall. Gaara paused in the doorway, his hand dropping to his side. A sandy-haired blond sat reading at a coffee table, numerous books spread around him.

"I'm home, Aniki," Gaara simply said, leaning a little on the doorframe.

The boy—Kankurou—turned the next page of his book, but did not look up. "How was your day?" he inquired, as though it were staged or manufactured, almost as though it were scripted.

Gaara's hand fidgeted a little at his side. "I met someone interesting today," he pronounced, face disclosing his minor agitation. "He's an idiot." Pushing off the framework, he went on his way toward his room.

Kankurou finally looked up from his book, face registering his younger brother's words before shifting into a small grin. "…Is that so?"

oooTBCooo

"aniki": respectable term for an older brother

Oh, Kankurou . I'm excited about his role in this story, actually. Speaking of the story, everything I had planned is happening slower than I thought, which isn't bad; it's just interesting. But, I'm very excited about the next chapter…It's going to be fun, but I don't want to give anything away. I also hope to showcase things more from Gaara's perspective next chap, as well as reveal a little bit more about him. I will say that this story's rating will rise to M; I don't know when but it shall, so if this bothers you, now ya know. Thank you for your patience with these two crazy boys. I thank thee for reading, and I'll try to get the next chapter finished quickly.

Peace, love, & GAP.


	4. Adding Insult to Injury

**Chapter 4**: Adding Insult to Injury

Naruto avoided Gaara for the entirety of the next day. He even went so far as to skip his afternoon meeting with his new tutor, regardless of the possible consequences. Somewhere along the line, he decided that he should probably avoid Sasuke too, since his amazingly loyal friend would probably prompt to ask him all sorts of fun little questions about Gaara, as he was apt to do lately. If there was one thing Naruto wanted to do, it was to avoid the red-haired boy at all costs, even at the cost of his grade and social life.

He refused to think about what he had almost done. _Refused_. It didn't even make sense to Naruto at all; one minute he was asking Gaara where he was going, the next, Gaara was glaring at him…How did the urge to kiss fit _anywhere_ into _any_ of that? It just didn't make sense, and, in a way, it scared him. He wasn't used to such complication of feeling, and what made it the most strange was he could still look at a girl in the hall and agree that she was cute, but what absolutely _horrified_ him was the fact that, before long, he might look at Gaara and agree that he was cute, too.

He had become skillfully adept at dodging into the shadows at the mere sight of red hair or even the mention of a name that started with the letter "G"; useless skills, to be sure, but Naruto was sure to employ them, nonetheless. In English class, he had even learned to slump down in his chair and attend class that way, but after two days of that and a sore neck, he decided to skip English entirely. Granted, it might not have been the smarted of choices, but it seemed to make sense to Naruto, and that was enough for him. After a week of the self-torture and a weekend alone at home, however, he started to wonder if it was really all worth it.

ooo

"…What?" Gaara asked, looking up from his book.

Kankurou merely stared at him, a thoughtful look in his eyes, before sitting a plate of food before him. Cautiously, he wiped his hands on a small towel before taking a seat opposite Gaara at the kitchen table, his eyes still suspiciously following him. "You look…angrier than usual."

Nonexistent brows seemed to furrow. "I _what_?" Gaara repeated, voice just barely reiterating the second word.

Kankurou looked a bit wary as he folded the towel and sat it in the empty chair beside him. Aside from the two currently occupied seats, there were four other vacant spaces at the table, which seemed far too large for only the two of them. "You just look mad. Is something bothering you?" It was strange for Kankurou to ask, but he realized that that was because he was not used to asking such a question to his younger brother. Sighing, he decided silently that it probably couldn't hurt. Probably.

Gaara closed his book and set it aside, a troubled air beginning to surround him. "What could possibly bother me?"

"Well, you've always been hard to read, but ever since father…" He stopped himself. It was not the time to bring up that topic of discussion. Cautiously looking up, he saw that Gaara was facing him with incredulous eyes. If only he hadn't have mentioned it.

"This has nothing to do with father," Gaara said sternly, and even Kankurou was surprised at the display of emotion.

"Right, I'm sorry," he said mildly, folding his hands on the table. Attempting to switch topics, he optimistically inquired, "How did the week go?"

"Horribly." Pushing the food around on his plate, Gaara wished deep down that his brother would stop trying so hard. It was always like this—fake, insincere, pretentious. He didn't like it.

Kankurou bit his lip before pretending to look around the room disinterestedly. "Hey, what about that one guy you said you met last week?" he said enthusiastically, glad for a change of topic. "Have you hung out with him at all?"

Gaara narrowed his gaze. It was by far the scariest gaze-narrowing Kankurou had ever seen. "No."

"Why not?" the sandy-haired teen asked, head tilting a little to the side. For a moment, and from another angle, he might've looked a little like Naruto. This infuriated Gaara to some extent, though his expression did not reveal it. His mouth twitch, however, did. Kankurou knew that mouth twitch. _Oh_, did he know it. It usually meant one of three things: frustration, embarrassment, or silent rage. Kankurou was able to ascertain rather quickly that it was most definitely silent rage.

"Why?" Gaara repeated, brandishing his fork like a murder weapon. Kankurou unconsciously flinched, wondering why on earth he even opened his mouth in the first place. They usually ate in silence; they had for the majority of their lives, but Kankurou had gotten it into his brain during the past year that maybe, just _maybe_ he and Gaara could develop a more traditional sense of brotherhood. He almost laughed openly at how utterly impossible that idea seemed now. "Because," Gaara continued, sitting down his fork and facing Kankurou with irritated eyes, "He's an idiot. I've said this before."

Kankurou breathed a small sigh of relief as his brother relinquished the silverware. Still, something about Gaara's countenance was out of place. He did not silently seethe like this. Correction. He did not silently seethe like this about a _person_ that was in no way, shape, or form related or connected to their family. The only other time he had ever revealed emotion about a _he_ who fit those qualities turned out to be slightly catastrophic, and the main problem was not the he silently seethed, but that he had actually appeared sad and upset. All of Kankurou's efforts to be the consoling brother at that time failed horrifically and only resulted in the gap between the two widening. There was always the chance that it might happen again, but Kankurou disregarded this and hoped for the best. "Who is he?"

It was clear that Gaara was trying to not get annoyed. "Why is this relevant?" _Why do you care?_, was what came across to Kankurou loud and clear.

Struggling with the right words, he settled simply with, "Because…you're my brother." Even he was a little surprised at his words, but it felt like the right thing to say.

There was that characteristic mouth twitch, before Gaara stood from the table. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard, Aniki." Kankurou smiled a little as the true sentiment drifted back. _You're the stupidest person I know_. As Gaara's footsteps echoed into the hall, Kankurou didn't expect to hear them cease momentarily. "Uzumaki Naruto is his name. Don't waste your time on him." As Kankurou made a mental note, Gaara's footsteps picked back up until he could no longer hear them.

Gaara's hand rested silently on the rail as he ascended the grand staircase. He seemed to drag his limb along noncommittally, eyes looking at, but not really focused on, each step beneath his feet. The staircase was a complete waste; Gaara's father had insisted they have it constructed though, regardless of costs. For him, it was all about appearance. Shaking his head as though it might shake the thoughts from his mind, he finally reached the top of the staircase and walked the few steps it took to reach his room.

It was a strange Sunday night, one that would be made stranger and a bit more annoying by the fact that Gaara had skipped dinner, but he would survive. Flipping on his light, he sat at his desk, his reflection staring back at him in the mirror before him.

"_I sacrificed my _honor _for you."_

Glaring, Gaara picked up his lighter and lit a candle on his desk, anything to shift his focus. The flame danced on the wick, fluttering under the soft pressure of Gaara's breath. As his eyes traveled beyond the flame, he slowly picked up the folded piece of paper which rested behind it. The note bent easily between his fingers, wear and tear finally taking its toll as Gaara held it in his grasp.

He was an idiot. Not Naruto this time (as this was a given) but himself. For this strange moment in his life, Gaara had almost tried to think differently about someone. The note threw him off, yes, but it wasn't necessarily bad; Gaara had just not expected it. To make matters worse, he had almost let an insider into his carefully maintained existence. For a moment, he _had_. Gaara didn't let people into his life; he simply didn't. Then, when he finally thought for a foolish moment that maybe Naruto might be different, he realized as he always did why he didn't let people in. An entire week of disappearance? That was not coincidence. That was intentional. That was just…

Hovering the note above the candle, Gaara leaned on his free hand and aimlessly stared as a corner of the paper sizzled and caught fire. Immediately pulling it back and blowing out the glow, he tossed the note aside and released a tired sigh, threading his fingers into his hair.

He really was an idiot.

ooo

A Monday had never felt so horrible.

Traipsing through the halls, Naruto sighed and stopped at his locker, pausing only to acquire the necessary books. It would be another awe-inspiring week of red-dodging and "G"-avoiding, but Naruto wasn't as animated as he pretended to be. Could he really keep this up for _another _week?

Pushing his locker door closed, his heart nearly exploded when Sasuke seemed to manifest behind the locker gate.

"S-Sasuke," he stumbled out, breath coming in short gasps.

Sasuke's dark gaze was murderous. "You think you can escape from _me_, dobe?"

Naruto backed up automatically. "Of…of course not," he said with a nervous laugh. What a lovely start to a Monday.

"Where have you been, Uzumaki?" Sasuke queried sternly, clearly not amused. He was, however, clearly irate.

"Don't be like that, Sasuke," Naruto said lightly, taking another step back.

"Like what, dobe? Like Gaara?" he said with an arch of a brow, taking a step towards the blond. "I'm beginning to understand why he acts the way he does towards you, _Uzumaki_. You are so irresponsible," he said, poking Naruto in the shoulder.

Naruto swallowed hard and took another step back. "Irresponsible?"

"And immature," he stepped forward once again.

Naruto blinked. "Immature?"

"Reckless, careless, and stupid."

Naruto flinched at the triple-insult. "Stupid? How am I stupid?" He seemed to muse on something. "Sure, I got a 29-percent on that paper, but I actually_ love_ English class, and—"

"_Naruto_," Sasuke all but growled, quickly interrupting him. "Where have you been for the past week?"

With a guilty pout, Naruto glanced around before whispering, "I've been hiding."

Sasuke blinked. "…Hiding?"

"Yeah…" He leaned in close. "From Gaara."

Sasuke stared at him for a moment before taking a large step back. "You've been hiding from Gaara?" He either looked to be not convinced or in ultimate disbelief.

"Exactly," Naruto nodded.

"Why?"

Twisting his mouth around, Naruto paused before deciding to simply spill it out. "There was this really weird moment last week…" He seemed to recall it vividly before faking a shudder.

Sasuke looked annoyed at the childish attitude the blond was apt to adopt. This complicated way of skirting around the truth was nothing new. "Did you meet up with Gaara so he could tutor you?"

Folding his hands in front of him, Naruto refused to look him in the eyes. "No." He could hear Sasuke's irritated sigh. "I had a reason, though."

Sasuke turned on his heel and started walking down the hall, leaving it up to Naruto to follow him. "Pray tell, Naruto, what your justification was? Please tell me that you at least alerted him beforehand that you would not be present…" Naruto's silence provided the answer, and he tried not to explode in anger. "Great, you stood him up." Again, he stopped walking and faced him. "It's not like he's your friend, Naruto; he doesn't have to be. He agreed to volunteer his time to help you. At least be considerate."

Naruto's countenance seemed to wilt a little at the admonishment. "I'm sorry, Sasuke."

Sasuke's glare softened before his expression shifted to a more blasé appearance. "Don't tell me," he motioned down the hall. "Tell _him._"

Tilting his head a little in confusion, Naruto looked to where Sasuke had directed. A few feet away, Gaara stood at his locker, putting away some books. Whereas Sasuke's face had been so full of emotion, regardless of whether it was anger or annoyance, Gaara's face revealed nothing. He simply put away his books in a robotic manner before closing his locker and snapping the lock back on. Pulling his bag onto his shoulder, he started to head down the hall before noticing rather quickly that Naruto was standing there. An incomprehensible emotion flashed across his teal eyes before he clearly glared and started down the hall in the opposite direction. Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but stopped and faced Sasuke.

Sasuke merely crossed his arms, warning detected within his stance and voice. "Fix it," he said succinctly, walking down the hall and away from Naruto.

Snapping his fingers at his side and digging his heel into the floor, Naruto glowered at Sasuke's retreating back before starting after Gaara. The kid really was fast; Naruto would give him that. He had nearly disappeared from sight when Naruto finally located his bright head of hair. Classes were about to start, and so this made matters increasingly worse as students crowded the halls, decreasing visibility and tailing power. Muttering a string of curses, Naruto pushed through the students, apologizing and grinning guiltily to anyone he almost knocked over. He saw Gaara turn a corner and made the same move five seconds later, finally entering a less-trafficked area. Gaara was only a few feet away.

"Hey!" Naruto yelled, starting to jog. He could see Gaara's pace increase once again. "Gaara, wait!" Entering into a run, he sped up to the red-head's side. Gaara didn't turn to look at him; Naruto might not have even been there. "Will you please wait a second?"

At this inquiry, Gaara's blue-green eyes narrowed. "I've waited enough."

Naruto's comment stuck in his throat, and he finally walked ahead of him and stopped, forcing Gaara to cease movement as well. The dangerous gleam Gaara's eyes held then slightly startled Naruto; not even Sasuke could look so scary, yet so calm, at the same time. Scratching his arm, Naruto looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, Gaara."

Gaara just stared at him for a moment before side-stepping him and continuing down the hall. Throwing his arms up in frustration, Naruto jogged until he had cut him off again. "Can you please just listen to what I have to say?" he asked, struggling to catch his breath.

The wrinkle between where his eyebrows would have been was a clear indication of Gaara's resentment. "I'm going to ask you once to move, Uzumaki," he said flatly. "Once _peacefully_."

Naruto was slightly taken aback by the admonition in his words. Really, what else could he do? He had tried, he really had, but Gaara was obviously not going to budge. Stepping aside, Naruto raised his hand, indicating that Gaara was free to continue on his way. Bustling past him, Gaara disappeared into one of the rooms in the hall and was gone.

Kicking the ground and shoving his hands in his pockets, Naruto tried to convince himself that he had done all he could. He would just have to tell Sasuke that it was hopeless.

But Sasuke wasn't convinced. In fact, Sasuke was sitting in Naruto's chair when he arrived to English class that very same day. When he looked upon Naruto's puzzled expression, he merely pointed to his empty chair. On that particular day, it just happened to be next to Gaara.

"Fix it," he said plainly.

Naruto balled his fists, ready to complain. "But Sasuke—"

"_Fix it_," came a more stern reply.

In an angered huff, Naruto made a face at Sasuke and stomped up to the front of the room. He never sat in the front of the room. Doing so implied one would have to pay attention. It wasn't so much that Naruto didn't like paying attention—he did, and he really did like English, but he just had trouble understanding it. It wasn't even his language.

Pulling out a chair and taking a seat at the available desk, Naruto turned slightly toward Gaara. "…Hey." Gaara ignored him. "Gaara, come on," he said, voice tinted with a whine. "How long are you going to keep this up?"

Glancing at his watch, Gaara picked up a book from his desk and started reading. Naruto's patience was once again drawing thin. Turning around to face Sasuke, he exaggerated a shrug, but Sasuke just glared at him. Everyone was glaring at him today. With an exasperated sigh, he faced Gaara once again. "Please just hear me out," he pleaded, trying to sound sincere. Gaara turned a page of his book. "Gaara, don't be like that," he found himself saying for the second time that day, despite addressing a different person.

Finally, Gaara looked up from his book, turning to face Naruto with an irritated gaze. "Like what, Uzumaki? Like you? I refuse to be a delinquent."

Naruto's eyes widened at the insult, and he took a breath, fully prepared to start a verbal war, when Kakashi came in.

"Sorry I'm late," he said repentantly, smile brightening up the room. Placing his books on his desk, he looked up at the class and immediately his eye went to Naruto and Gaara, skipping between them before he glanced around the classroom in apparent confusion. "Wow…" he looked back at them. "For a minute there, I thought I was back in the closet."

If there was anything other than total humiliation that he could feel at that moment, Naruto wanted to know, because as Sasuke's chuckle carried up to him, he really wanted to know why one earth he existed.

ooo

"It was a failure, Sasuke," Naruto said at lunch. "Even you saw."

Sasuke seemed to stare into space, his chin resting on the back of his hand. "It doesn't look too promising, does it?"

Once class had begun, Gaara proceeded to completely ignore Naruto, diligently taking notes but never once looking Naruto's way. Naruto had tried everything to get his attention, too, from making faces, to doing strange little dances, to even poking his arm nonstop for roughly three minutes. All that earned him was confused stares from other students around him and a paper on prepositions due the next day.

"_Why do you insist on fooling around in my class, Uzumaki-kun?" _Kakashi had paused during his lecture. _"Paper on prepositions,"_ he said simply. _"Due the next day. Hopefully this will teach you to stop messing _around," he reiterated the last word. _"Get it? 'Around'?...Prepositions?"_ He chuckled to himself. _"I'm just too funny sometimes."_

"Sensei sucks," Naruto said, contemplating the interaction and slumping in his chair.

Sasuke's eyes travelled over to Naruto's crumpled form. "Your methods for acquiring forgiveness are what 'sucks', Naruto."

Naruto stuck his tongue out at him. "I give up," he said resignedly. "It's better off this way, anyway."

Sasuke elevated a brow. "And why is that?"

"Because," Naruto sat up, "he was starting to make me feel weird for a moment there."

"Weird?"

"Yeah," Naruto frowned. "I almost…" he shook his head, "he just makes me feel really weird sometimes. It was like the gay was rubbing off on me." Looking up at Sasuke, he faked a shiver. "It was…ew. Gay people are so…"

Sasuke's glare was deadly. "Gay people are so _what_?"

Waving him off, Naruto leaned back in his chair. "You're no fun, Sasuke."

"Then I'm doing my job as a friend." Folding his hands under his chin, Sasuke looked at Naruto in a calculating manner. "You're not turning gay, Naruto," he said after a moment. "And stop thinking like that. You're just making a friend who happens to be gay…and reading into it _way_ to much."

Naruto mulled over his words. "You really think so?"

Sasuke seemed to sport a small smile. "Yes." Then his face shifted to a more serious expression. "You need to become his friend, Naruto. It won't be easy, but you can't give up."

Naruto looked intently at him, but for some reason, Sasuke's determined face made him feel like he really might be able to do it.

Then the afternoon came. Naruto was feeling particularly enthusiastic, so when he saw someone at his locker with their foot propped against it in an oddly familiar manner, it did not do too well for his mood. Though this time, it was not Gaara. The person who stood there now was at least a head taller than Gaara. That made him four-fifths of a head taller than Naruto, and anyone taller than Naruto intimidated him right of the bat. His hair was blond like Naruto's, but it was more of a dulled gold, kind of like desert sand. And his face, well, that was definitely a glare. It was right up there with Gaara's glare, the expression sharing a certain similarity, but this glare included eyebrows and a frame which could probably kill Naruto.

"Uzumaki Naruto," the boy said sinisterly.

Naruto paused, everyone else in the vicinity quieting and staring as well. "That's right. And you are?"

The other boy—another student at the school, judging from his uniform—pushed off the locker and walked up to him. "It's Kankurou-_sempai_ to you, kid."

Naruto didn't look fazed, but in his mind, he was searching through all the possible ways he could have ticked off a senior. He could think of none. All around, the emergence of whispers carried throughout the hall as everyone questioned what an upperclassman was doing in their area.

"I don't know what business you have with my brother, kouhai," Kankurou leaned in close, face disclosing his aggravation, "but if you continue to bother him…I will have to hurt you." Taking a step back, he ruffled Naruto's hair. "Have a nice day," he said congenially, slinging his coat over his shoulder and leisurely making his way down the hall.

Naruto was still for a moment as he tried to digest what had just happened. As his eyes started to widen at the impending possibility, Sasuke came to his side.

"He's Gaara's older brother...A senior this year," he declared, watching him walk away. "He plays a few sports and has been seen studying lately for college entrance exams. He's usually really nice." Sasuke patted Naruto on the shoulder. "It's bad that you pissed him off."

Naruto just feigned a smile. "Thank you, Sasuke."

ooo

It was the first time in a while that Naruto had actually felt troubled, and it just so happened that anything he touched suffered the brunt of his disturbance. His feet fell harder than usual on the floor, and any door he opened was opened with such unnecessary force that they occasionally slammed back into the wall. Naruto just couldn't understand why, out of all the people in the world, he had to be the one with such bad luck. Every time he considered this, he knew that the root of all evil rested within the letter he had written. Great gods, he was an idiot. Sasuke was right.

The only good thing was his mind was starting to clear about the whole Gaara situation. Sasuke _was_ right; Naruto was reading into it way too much. Gaara had never done anything to suggest he felt anything other than, well, other than perturbation toward Naruto. It was clear that along the way, he had become disillusioned. Really though, did any of that matter now? He had essentially obliterated any chance of mending what little semblance of relationship they shared, however skewed it was, but Naruto couldn't really blame him. He had disappeared. For a week. Like an idiot.

Grinding his teeth, Naruto pushed through the stairwell door, forcing all of his pent-up frustration into the poor entryway. But something was wrong. This door didn't give like all the rest had. No, this one was definitely different. In fact, this door seemed to fight back, for when Naruto shoved it, it seemed to catch and hold, sending Naruto ricocheting backward in stunned puzzlement. Approaching it once again, he tried to push it open, but it only opened slightly, a small crack of light from the other side shining through. Blinking, Naruto heaved himself against it, before closing and opening it several times to see if it would give way. It gave a little, and Naruto mused that it felt like a heavy box was on the other side to keep someone out. Finally pushing it open and walking through, Naruto nearly fainted.

Laying on the ground, in a newly unconscious heap, was Gaara.

Naruto stared at him for a moment, like one might stare at a unicorn for the first time—with a distrustful gleam and a strong inclination to believe that what they're seeing is not real. He waited for Gaara to open his eyes and glare at him, but then he remembered how many times he had tried to slam open the door and vividly pictured the student on the other side, a door slamming numerous times into his head.

"I've killed him," Naruto said distantly. He could see Kankurou beating him up until he was paralyzed. Maybe Kakashi would help him. Maybe Kakashi would just take that chance to knock out one of his eyes, too. Sasuke would probably just laugh.

Looking toward the door, Naruto nearly slapped himself for even thinking of leaving. He could just see the headlines. _"Hit and run. Student found dead in the stairwell. The only suspect is suspiciously missing an eye…"_

Kneeling by his side, Naruto peered close to his face. It was faint, but a soft _whish_ of breath played upon his cheek. Breathing a sigh of relief, Naruto poked Gaara's cheek, but the limp boy didn't respond. Naruto scratched his chin and glanced at Gaara's watch. It was the end of day, so he wasn't sure if the nurse's office would be open, but he would try nonetheless. He couldn't just leave him there, no matter how appealing the alternative seemed. Slipping an arm beneath Gaara's neck, and another under his knees, Naruto picked him up, musing absentmindedly about his lightweight, before heading to the infirmary.

ooo

"Uzumaki-kun, I'm really sorry, but can you stay with him?" Anko begged nicely, pulling her purse over her shoulder. She was an obvious frenzy as she struggled to remember where her coat was, before realizing it was already on. Naruto just followed her as she seemed to dance about the room, finishing any last minute, menial tasks. "I'm going out tonight, and I'm already late," she said at the door. "Just close up when you're finished." She seemed to recall something else. "And don't tell anyone, for heaven's sake."

"Can't we just call his parents?" Naruto griped, slouching even though he was standing.

"I'm afraid not," said the nurse, shaking her head as well. "Just stay with him until he's awake. It only seems to be a minor concussion; he'll be fine," she waved her hand at him. "Thanks so much; 'kay, bye!" Pivoting on her heel, she was gone, the _clack clack clack_ of her heels echoing on down the hall.

Naruto rested his hands on his hips and sighed, walking over to where Gaara still lay unconscious. He honestly could have been dead, the way Naruto saw it, what with the way he just lay motionless on the office cot. For some reason, Naruto had even folded his hands neatly on his chest after situating him on the white sheets. Dodging red and avoiding "G"s was cake compared to getting Gaara to the nurse's office. Thankfully, it was the end of the day, and so the odds of running across anyone else were slim to none. Unfortunately, this was Naruto, and so he ran across someone else at any given chance. Just for the record, ducking into the shadows with a deadweight body was anything _but _easy.

Leaning onto the bed on his arms, Naruto watched in slight fascination as a purplish-blue bruise started to appear on Gaara's forehead, before brushing some copper strands over it. Not good. Potential lawsuit. Naruto had no money anyway, so either way, he was up the creek without a paddle. Feeling his fingertips tingle, Naruto realized it was because Gaara's hair was unexpectedly soft. The memory seemed to linger on his hands, and he quickly rubbed them together before resting them in his pockets. Still, the black around Gaara's eyes just begged to be touched, and so Naruto stole an eyelid poke before glancing at his darkened fingertip. With his eyes closed, Gaara almost looked eyeless, and so Naruto figured he was just doing his part to ensure Gaara hadn't lost any body parts during the trip there. It was difficult, but he tried to imagine Gaara putting eye-shadow on each morning, cursing if he happened to make a mistake or had to start over. Laughing to himself, Naruto leaned on his hand, a slight flicker of Gaara's wrist alerting him that the red-head was awakening.

Gaara wasn't so bad like this, Naruto pondered. When he wasn't glaring, and wasn't spouting off implied insults, he looked rather normal, if not for the missing eyeball thing. The vision was shattered, however, when Gaara's eyes slowly opened, and his perplexed gaze drifted over to Naruto.

"I'm in hell," he muttered, looking at the ceiling instead.

Naruto grimaced, before remembering that it _was_ his fault after all. "You're in the nurse's office," he stated definitively, trying to look polite.

"I know." He paused for a moment, then, "Why am I here?" He wasn't quite angry (or if he was, he didn't show it) and he wasn't quite annoyed, but he did look to be suffering a massive headache. He didn't keep his eyes open for long, and he didn't look anywhere where there was bright light.

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. "Well…you were knocked out." What was he going to say, that he had beaten Gaara up with a door? Right. How much was it if one was sued, anyway? Four hundred and fifty dollars? That would definitely be all of his summer work money. He would probably have to default the hospital bill (courtesy of his Kankurou-induced injuries) onto Iruka. Joyous be the day.

But Gaara didn't question it further. He simply said, "Watch where you're going, Uzumaki."

Naruto perked up, surprised that Gaara seemed to know. Thinking back on it though, he realized that there was a small window on the door which allowed limited vision to whomever might be on the other side…in order to prevent such incidents. Naruto had just had too much on his mind to really care. And yet, he couldn't help but feel really bad about the situation.

"I'm…really sorry, Gaara," he said sincerely, looking absentmindedly at his lap. "I'm really sorry about everything."

Gaara finally faced him, head not turning, but turquoise eyes journeying toward the blond's face. Looking back away, he didn't hide the troubled expression that found itself on his face. "It doesn't matter, Uzumaki." Naruto looked up, worried that Gaara hadn't found him to be earnest, but Gaara noticed and said, "I mean don't worry about it. I'm fine." Pushing himself to sit up, he immediately placed a hand on his forehead, unsuccessfully suppressing a wince. Naruto made a move to help him, but Gaara ignored his offer of his assistance, swinging his legs off the bed and looking around the room. "My bookbag?" he asked, one hand still pressed to the dark bruise above his temple.

"Oh, it's right here," Naruto said, reaching behind him and bringing the messenger bag into view. "But, you aren't planning on going home now, are you?" he asked carefully.

Gaara lowered his eyelids a little. "And what if I am?"

"Well…" he struggled for the right words to say. "You can't. You're in no condition to be moving around." For some reason, he sounded more worried than he had meant to, but moving around with a concussion did not seem like a smart idea.

"Don't worry about it." He reached for his bookbag, but Naruto stood and slung it over his own shoulder, a look of willpower in his sapphire eyes. Not surprisingly, Gaara glared.

"You can't have this," Naruto declared matter-of-factly. "You shouldn't stress your body out. Isn't there someone who can come and get you?"

Gaara looked at the clock on the far wall, then back to Naruto. "Not now. It doesn't matter anyway; I can walk."

"You can't," affirmed Naruto, looking at Gaara as though he were crazy. "What if you pass out again?"

Putting his face in his hands for a moment before running them through his hair, he faced Naruto with a clear look of annoyance. "I'll be fine, Uzumaki."

Naruto tried to retort, but he was sure Gaara would remain strong in his conviction. Leafing through any other possibilities in his mind, he paused and looked at the student before him cautiously. It was crazy, but it was really the only choice and the only decision that would let him sleep that night without a guilty conscience. "I'll walk you home." He was the one to narrow his gaze for once, an air of resolution rising about him. "I won't take 'no' for an answer."

Gaara was prepared to strictly decline, but when he looked at Naruto, there was something about his bearing that told him the blond would not back down. He _did_ have a particularly nasty headache, but still…Releasing a weary sigh, he glanced up at Naruto, his mouth twitching a bit at one corner. "Fine."

oooTBCooo

Muhaha. So much more stuff was supposed to happen in this chapter, but whatev. That just makes me anticipate writing the next chapter so much more. Hope you're enjoying it so far. Temari will be in this story; she's just MIA for the moment. This story is very much so an experiment, so it's good to know where I stand.

Naruto is very easy to dislike in this chapter, due to his preconceptions. As a result, he can sometimes border on the offensive, but I didn't just want him to pop out as gay; that wouldn't really be too realistic. I'm really trying hard with this, so forgive any perceived irregularities. Gaara's different since he already is gay (the past of which should be clearer next chapter). That aside, thanks for reading as usual! Your comments are always very nice and they push me to get off my butt and write. I wasn't going to write this chapter until Sunday, but I figured, what the heck? What's homework, anyway? Next chapter might be a little slower in both creation and postage, but we'll see. It's approaching the end of the year, and college can be such a boob. Sorry for any errors; Take carez!!


	5. Remembrance

**Chapter 5**: Remembrance

Naruto strolled down the street casually, a congenial expression on his face as he effortlessly carried Gaara's bag along with his own. In was a little _too_ congenial for Gaara's tastes, and every once in a while, he would glance over at the blond and just stare at him as if there was something seriously wrong with him. There had to be something seriously wrong with him. People were never that happy, let alone when they had to walk someone home _and_ carry their bag.

"What is it?" Naruto asked, noticing finally that Gaara was looking at him. Gaara just glanced away and looked at the houses to his right. When he didn't answer, Naruto seemed to gravitate closer to his side, looking down at him with an inquisitive stare. Whereas before, he had been an acceptable distance away (roughly four feet in front of Gaara), now Naruto was entirely too close. Gaara hadn't walked this close to someone since he was a child tugging on his brother's sleeve, and even then he tried to keep his distance.

Finally fidgeting uncomfortably, he faced Naruto in annoyance. "What?"

Naruto just laughed. "See? It's weird when someone stares at you without explanation." But he did move away a little, folding his hands behind his head. "It looks like it might rain…"

"Hn," Gaara said, hoping it would be enough to keep him quiet. The weather did look questionable though, and there was a slight chill in the air. Autumn was finally making its presence known, slowly but surely, as the seasons continued their never-ending shift. The clouds looked darker than normal, too, as if they really might start leaking any second. "A storm in coming," he distractedly muttered, forgetting for a moment that Naruto was even there.

Naruto was also surprised that Gaara had spoken. The progression of the walk to his house had been, for the most part, silent, and Gaara seemed to try and limit his words to as few as possible. Naruto also noticed that the other boy walked as close to the right edge of the sidewalk as possible, seeing as Naruto was to his left. It was somewhat amusing. But still, walking him home, just walking with him, despite sharing few words, was greatly easing his mind about the copper-headed teenager. Gaara was more normal than he let on or maybe even wanted people to think. He was just like anybody else.

"You're really light," he suddenly announced, feeling the sudden urge to converse with him.

Gaara appeared slightly bothered by the announcement, but didn't turn his way. "Are you speculating, Uzumaki?"

Naruto tilted his head a little. "I carried you," Gaara finally looked at him, "to the nurse's office…Didn't you know that?"

Gaara seemed to clench his teeth before once again turning away. "I did not."

Naruto felt himself wanting to smile. It was an odd sensation, but he was sure that he wanted to grin. "You should eat more. You're really skinny."

"You're skinny too, Uzumaki," Gaara seemed to say tiredly. "You're not that much bigger than me."

"Why, thank you," Naruto said, finally beaming happily. Gaara looked at him again, suddenly compelled to do so, and immediately wished he hadn't. The expression was genuine, but what on earth did he have to be smiling about?

"Smiling isn't hard, Gaara," Naruto said, and it was almost as though he had read Gaara's thoughts.

"Neither is being quiet," Gaara replied and looked away.

Naruto made a move as though he had been struck, before simpering slightly by Gaara's side. "Neither is being friendly," he mumbled, putting his hands in his pockets.

Gaara felt an emotion bubbling up inside him, before he realized that it was the urge to smirk. It was too close to a smile, however, and so he willed it away. Naruto really was a strange guy. It was weird, but he realized that he had actually engaged in a kind of conversation with the blond. It was weird because he did not like to converse. He tried to avoid conversation whenever it was possible, but with Naruto, Gaara found himself speaking without even realizing it, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, when it really was not.

He had never been so internally glad to see his house come into view. "We're here," he stated monotonously, walking up the driveway and to the front door. Naruto remained behind for a moment, his eyes running over the building.

"You're…" he blinked and shifted his position. "You're rich!"

Gaara ignored him, pulling out his key and unlocking the front door. Naruto was quickly (and again closely) at his side, the look of shock still painted on his face. "Rich," he said a little bitterly, and then, "I should have known," as if he had discovered the secret to some plaguing dilemma. The house was quite large, and judging from the exterior, the two floors above ground were almost assuredly joined by a third below. Naruto's house was one story. One simple, tragic story.

Pushing open the front door, Gaara took a step inside before turning to Naruto and holding out his hand. "Bookbag."

Naruto smiled coyly. "Aren't you going to invite me in?"

Gaara almost felt like smacking him. He settled with an emotionless "I detest you right now," before walking in and allowing Naruto follow him. Naruto had barely taken two steps inside the house when Gaara halted and faced him. "This is as far as you go."

Naruto was immediately puzzled, "But—"

"I let you in, and now you can leave."

Naruto squinted at him, but handed over the bag nonetheless. "You've got to work on that personality, Mr. Frown."

Gaara just stared at him. "Don't call me that."

A golden brow elevated as Naruto looked at the redhead skeptically. "You would be so much more pleasant if you would just smile."

"You might be standable if you would just be quiet." Dropping his bag onto the floor, the sudden movement, though slight, seemed to reignite his headache, and he pressed his fingertips to his temple as a sharp pain afflicted him. Naruto was quick to notice and immediately closed the distance between them, leaning down a bit so that he could peer into the other's face, a look of worry gracing his features.

"Are you okay?" he inquired, voice laced with concern.

Gaara, whose eyes had been closed, suddenly opened them at the increase in volume. He hadn't realized that Naruto was so close, and for some reason, it sent a small, reminiscent tremor of fear through him. Thankfully, it soon passed, replaced only by irritation. "I'm fine," he drawled out, releasing a tired sigh. "You can go home now."

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked, not convinced. "It looks pretty bad…"

Gaara was losing his patience, but his planned insult was lost when Naruto's hand touched his face, his forehead to be exact, before sliding through his shaggy bangs and pulling them gently backward. His face came even closer as he peered at the bruise there, before the fingertips of his free hand drifted lightly over the small lump that had formed. "Hm," he uttered, as if he were in deep thought. Pulling back, Naruto crossed his arms, allowing Gaara's hair to fall back into its own semblance of place. "You should really get that looked at," he said after a moment. "I'll even take care of the bill, since I'm to blame." He laughed a little, but it was a regretful laugh. Still, it was genuine.

Gaara's right hand had risen so that it was suspended only an inch or so from where Naruto's hand had just been. Clenching his fist and bringing it to his side, he said only, "Goodbye, Uzumaki."

Finally, Naruto seemed to give in. "Fine, fine," he sighed, dragging his feet over to the door. "Before I go," he said, turning toward Gaara slightly, "could you explain prepositions to me really quickly?"

"Prepositions?" Gaara repeated, before he seemed to recall the extra assignment, courtesy of Kakashi.

Naruto folded his hands and feigned a look of hope. "Pretty please?"

Staring at him for a moment, Gaara's harsh exterior seemed to bend slightly, and he walked until he was about a foot away from the blond. "Prepositions," he said again, "are anything my hand can do." And with that said he raised his right hand. Naruto looked at him in confusion before Gaara's hand made a karate-chop motion to his right. "My hand can be _beside _you," he hovered his hand next over Naruto's head, "_above_ you," and with the next one, he seemed to struggle a bit. A troubled expression befell his face, before he raised his other hand and carefully brought both around Naruto's waist so that they met behind him but did not make any kind of contact with the slightly-taller teen. Naruto seemed to stop breathing as he quizzically looked from Gaara's arms to his face. Gaara could only hold his eyes for a few moments before he felt that he had to look away. "_Around_," he said, but this one was slightly quieter than the rest. Unclasping his hands, Gaara pressed one against Naruto's chest and pushed slightly. "This one is _against,_" he said, and pushed a little harder.

Naruto took the hint, and opened the front door. "Okay, I get it," he said with a smirk. "I'm leaving. Thank you very much," he said and smiled, his blue eyes seeming to sparkle despite the gloomy overcast outside. "I really appreciate it, Gaara." But his face seemed to melt to one of lament. "I hope you believed me when I said I was sorry…I understand if you don't want to tutor me." From anyone else's lips, it probably would've sounded like a carefully-crafted guilt-trip, but when Naruto said it, it sounded sincere. He was almost out the door when Gaara's voice caused him to stop.

"Tomorrow, Uzumaki," he said, slight warning in his voice. "...Don't be late."

Naruto's smile as he stepped out onto the front lawn seemed to be brimming with gratitude. "I won't…and thank you, again."

Gaara just glared, even though Naruto hadn't done anything particularly annoying at that moment. He simply found him unnerving. "It doesn't matter, Uzumaki."

"Call me 'Naruto'," the blond offered kindly, his smile once again taking on an amused quality.

With a forehead wrinkle and a mouth twitch, Gaara plainly said, "No". And then he slammed the door.

ooo

Naruto was overflowing with energy the next day. At lunch, he explained to Sasuke how he gone to Gaara's "gargantuan" house and even stepped inside, proceeding to relate how he had made a special attempt to converse with his recommitted tutor and try and learn more about him. Sasuke listened intently throughout the entire speech, a look of slight disbelief in his ebony eyes, but told Naruto he was proud of him, nevertheless. In English, Naruto even sat by Gaara of his own accord, but the redhead paid him no mind, a new book already in his hands. Sasuke walked in and could hardly conceal his surprise at his friend's newfound efforts, but his small smile was enough to show that he was pleased.

"Aren't you going to at least talk with me a little?" Naruto pouted, resting on his arms and facing Gaara with a look of disappointment. "We should get to know each other better."

To this, Gaara looked on at his book, saying, "I know absolutely nothing about you, Uzumaki," and then he listlessly turned a page. "Nor do I want to."

After this exchange, it was extremely difficult for Naruto to remember that he was trying to see the boy in a new light. Regardless, that afternoon, he was sure to be early to Gaara's locker. Again, people looked at him and whispered, but he tried his best to ignore them. Again, they seemed to know something that he did not. Glancing at his hand that was propped on the wall, he remembered that it was the same one that had threaded into Gaara's hair when he had inspected his bruise. He quickly closed his hand and looked away. As Naruto continued to wait, something Sasuke had said suddenly entered into his mind.

"_You were absent that day,"_ he had commented. Naruto remembered that part, but what followed was hazy. Absent when? As Gaara came into sight, emotionless as ever, Naruto suddenly recalled what Sasuke had told him.

"_You were absent that day…The day the letter was posted."_

"Are you ready?" Gaara asked, pulling Naruto out of his thoughts.

Managing a weak smile, Naruto brought himself to nod. "Yep."

"Follow me then."

They ended up working in Kakashi's room. Naruto didn't know how he felt about that, because he still held a small grudge against the silver-haired educator, but if Gaara deemed it as the place, then he figured he should go along with it. When Kakashi turned out to still be there, it didn't really help matters.

"Ah, my two prized students," he said when they came in. "I am witnessing the start of a wonderful relationship."

Naruto frowned at him. "Did you get my preposition paper, sensei?"

"I did, indeed," he smiled. "And let me just say…you did a wonderful job."

Naruto was in slight shock. "I did?"

"You did. _So_ well, in fact, that I've decided to grant you some extra credit. Take this as a lesson, Uzumaki-kun: Good things will come if you make the effort." Glancing at his watch, he stood and collected a few papers. "I have a staff meeting now, so feel free to use the room for as long as you like." With an unreadable smile, he was gone.

"If you're done fraternizing," Gaara spoke up, "then can we begin the lesson?"

"Frat—," Naruto started, before settling with a scowl. "Fine," he grumbled, "but I liked you so much more yesterday." It was hard to imagine that he had ever felt the urge to kiss him.

"My goal is not for you to like me, Uzumaki," said the red-haired student, shuffling through the papers in a folder. "My goal is help you improve your grade, so both of us can be free of each other."

"Would it hurt to be nice?" complained Naruto, slumping in his chair.

Ignoring him, Gaara finally pulled out a piece of paper that he had been looking for. "I really can't even begin to fathom where to start with you…"

"Do we have to study here?" Naruto suddenly asked. "I mean, your house is humongous, and it's not too far. Can't we go there?"

Gaara finally looked at him. "No."

The door opened, and Sasuke poked his head into the classroom. "The bus is about to leave…Are you not coming, Naruto?"

Naruto flashed him a thumbs-down. "Negative. I have my full attention focused on my gracious tutor—the ever-enthusiastic Gaara." Sitting up, he exaggerated the moment as if it were some Shakespearian play. "It is to this individual," he clasped Gaara's shoulder, "that I owe my successful future to."

Gaara looked at Naruto's hand. "Don't touch me."

Retracting his limb, the blond shook his head. "Work on that personality, Mr. Frown."

"I told you not to call me that, Uzumaki," Gaara interjected, clearly not amused.

Sasuke watched the exchange and seemed to be fighting a smile. As they continued to bicker, he slipped away unnoticed and headed for the bus-stop. In the end, they made no progress whatsoever, and Gaara even walked out when he could take no more, but Naruto still felt that strange urge to smile. For, while Gaara didn't have much of an amicable character, he was oddly fun to be around.

ooo

"Maybe Gaara's not really gay," Naruto said out of nowhere, while eating lunch with Sasuke the next day.

Sasuke blinked at the sudden musing. "…I'm not really sure where that came from, but I'm pretty sure he is."

"Yeah, but maybe it's just a rumor," he sat back and seemed to contemplate something. "Can you really be sure that he is? I mean, is there any proof?"

"Why would you need proof, Naruto?" Sasuke asked, and his face appeared unreadable like Kakashi's. "Why does it matter so much to you?"

Naruto looked up quickly at him then, a cross between confusion and mild alarm upon his face. Sasuke just stared silently back, critical eyes focused upon his friend. "I don't—it's not—," he shook his head, and for some reason he recalled Gaara's hands closing around his waist, careful not to touch him. And what if they had? "It doesn't matter," he said finally. "I just—"

"Does preferred gender have anything to do with who you are?" Sasuke asked suddenly.

Naruto's expression seemed to struggle to find the right one. It settled with another odd mix of helplessness and uncertainty. "It has everything to do with it…doesn't it?"

"You tell me."

Naruto rested his cheek in his hand and glanced again at the other one. Again, he could feel Gaara's soft, red locks as they yielded to his touch. Without forewarning, he reached across the table and ran his hand through Sasuke's jet-black hair. While his friend's reaction was more than priceless—a sort of mute shock—Naruto didn't feel any more relieved than he had moments before. "It isn't the same," he said resignedly. It simply was not the same.

"I won't ask what that was about, but…," the black-haired teen said with a small cough. As if Sasuke knew what he was fretting about, he said, "You and Gaara seem to be getting along…"

"Not really," Naruto laughed a little, but he still looked lost in thought. "Gaara hates me."

"Gaara doesn't hate you," said Sasuke definitively. "He probably just can't figure out how to deal with you." With a minute shrug, he added, "And you did write him a poem."

"The poem, right…" Furrowing his brows, he faced his friend with an inquisitive gaze. "What did you mean, Sasuke? About the letter, I mean."

"The letter?"

"Yeah," he sat up straighter, clearly at odds with something. "You said I was absent when some letter was posted. You know Gaara's gay; I'm almost positive that you know beyond a reasonable doubt. What is it that I missed that supposedly explains everything?"

"…You really want to know?"

"Yes."

Again, Sasuke seemed to pause before proceeding, until he seemed to decide that he may as well tell his friend what he wanted to know. "Last year, maybe mid-October, there was a letter that had been posted all throughout the school." He seemed to recall the moment, before looking Naruto square in the eye. "It was a letter Gaara had written to another boy."

Naruto felt his heart skip a beat. "…A love letter?"

Sasuke shrugged a little. "I guess one could call it that, but in essence it was just a confession of feelings—a very direct, honest, and frank confession. I don't even think he _wanted_ to like the guy, judging by what I read. Either way, one of this student's friends had apparently gotten ahold of it and photocopied it, and you know the rest. It was addressed to some guy who's a senior this year—Hyuuga something-or-other."

"_Hyuuga_?" Naruto said, clearly surprised. "That long-haired pretty-boy?" He had only seen him a few times, but from what he had seen, he was definitely not lacking in the looks department. It didn't take a gay person to figure that out. Thinking even harder, he recalled that he also seemed to be a very nice and quiet individual, lacking the vanity one might assume him to possess.

Sasuke folded his hands in prayer-like fashion. "Yes. Despite everything, Hyuuga didn't react angrily or disgustedly toward it, but it was clear the feelings were not mutual. There was a big to-do about it, more than was necessary, and quite a few students took the opportunity to poke fun and do hurtful things…_say_ hurtful things, as I'm sure you can imagine." He seemed to be looking elsewhere. "But Gaara didn't do anything. He just went on like nothing had happened. It was Kakashi who was sure all of the copies were removed, and he was quite adamant about it, lecturing everyone that if he so much as _heard_ another word about the incident, the responsible student would spend a week cleaning tables and serving detention. The next day it was like it had never even occurred." His story finally at an end, he looked at Naruto at last and nodded. "And that's really all there is to know. It's not like there were that many copies made and posted, but you know how word spreads around here, and how stories develop. A lot of what people _think_ they know is only speculation."

There was a prolonged period of silence, which persisted for a while after Sasuke had finished speaking. Naruto's face toggled between expressions, switching from frustration, in which his brows nearly met and he nibbled idly at his thumb, to a strange form of sadness, which resulted in him leaning his chin in his arms.

When Sasuke had had enough of it, he addressed his friend with a small half-smile. "You're a good person, Naruto. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself; you didn't know."

"You're wrong, Sasuke," Naruto sighed tiredly and rubbed his temples. "I'm a horrible person…no different from the rest."

ooo

"You're not listening, Uzumaki."

Naruto was jolted to reality and came face to face with Gaara's hard eyes. It was clear that he was not pleased, and he was justified in the sense that that made the seventh time Gaara had said that exact same sentence. Naruto just couldn't pay attention. Whereas the previous day, he was incredibly troubled in an angry sort of way, this time he was incredibly troubled in a _depressed_ sort of way. And the dark clouds definitely did not help. Kakashi was absent once again, and so all Naruto had to focus on was Gaara, and all he could focus on was how much Gaara was justified in hating him. Granted, the redhead hadn't known Naruto's particular thoughts prior to his enlightenment at lunch, but _Naruto_ knew his thoughts, and they had not been very kind. He simply felt horrible.

"I'm listening," he said with a nod and a smile, which he was positive was nothing less than pathetic.

Gaara stared at him, tapping his finger on the desk for a few seconds before ceasing the idle movement. "Useless," he uttered softly, bringing his hand to rub his forehead.

"I am," Naruto agreed dejectedly, finding his pseudo-smile increasingly difficult to maintain.

Again, Gaara stared at him, though this time it was in a more critical manner. "I was talking about me tutoring you, Uzumaki." He paused for a moment, and his face seemed to cringe before he settled with a sigh. The pain had passed. "It's useless if you don't pay attention."

"Are you okay?" asked Naruto worriedly, hand reaching out toward the student across from him, but Gaara immediately moved away from him.

"Don't," he said suddenly, an unreadable expression in his eyes. "I'm fine." Pulling the stack of papers on his desk into a more organized pile, he placed them into his bag and stood. "You have your mind on other things…We'll just meet tomorrow."

As Gaara turned to leave, Naruto reached out to grasp his wrist but stopped himself. "I'm sorry," he said softly.

Gaara paused at the door, turning slightly to face him. "What?"

With a more determined expression, Naruto lifted his face to meet him. "I'm sorry, Gaara."

Gaara appeared tired for a moment, as if he knew Naruto was prone to the same, overused story. "I told you it doesn't matter; we'll just meet tomorrow."

"Not for that," he shook his head, then seemed to rethink something. "Well, I am sorry for that, too, but not primarily."

"What, then?"

"Can I just…" Biting his lip for a moment, Naruto truly seemed conflicted. "Can I just say I'm sorry, but not reveal the reason why?" The pathetic smile once again graced his lips. "I know it sounds weird, but can you just forgive me for something, but not know what that something is?"

Gaara's eyes narrowed and he stood silently at the door for what seemed like a long time. With another small sigh, and a subtle shake of his head, he finally said, "I forgive you, Uzumaki."

Naruto was in slight disbelief. "You do?"

Gaara looked as though he were becoming cross. "I won't say such nonsense again." Turning, he was quickly gone from the classroom, leaving an oddly enthused Naruto behind.

"Thanks, Gaara!" he called after him. For some reason, he felt a lot better. "See you tomorrow!"

Gaara tried to ignore him, but the cheerful ring of the blond's voice would not stop echoing in his ears.

ooo

For some reason, Gaara thought about his childhood that night. He could remember the colorful parties, the elaborate gowns, the numerous adults participating in a ritual that young boys his age were not permitted to join in. Still, he had shyly approached his father, eyes meekly searching out his father's own. They looked so much alike; so alike, and yet so very different. His father noticed him standing there, champagne glass in hand, before he simply shook his head. That was all it took. Gaara understood. Somehow, he had gone throughout his entire childhood without speaking very many words to his father. They didn't need words. Perhaps Gaara's father hadn't felt his youngest child even worthy of conversation. That certainly wouldn't have surprised him. But his father had said no, and so Gaara had left without a word to the place where the kids usually stayed. He remembered he was older than the other children; he was probably around eight or nine, while the other kids were six or younger. He couldn't relate with them. He couldn't relate with anyone. It was a warm night. It was a warm, forlorn night.

And then Neji had shown up, and then Gaara was looking at him differently, as though the moon had cast an ethereal glow around the ten-year-old. Gaara had never properly met him before that moment, but he was fascinated by him then. He talked to Gaara as if they had known each other for years, and they were instantly friends. It was strange, but it was not bad. It was not bad at all. And soon Neji was telling him about his family, and how he didn't want to be there either, and how he would rather be at home, and how it would be so nice if he and Gaara could just leave together and never have to come back again. Gaara hung onto his words almost religiously, for he was unlike anyone he had ever known before. He had long hair like a girl, and his eyes were an odd shade of pale lilacs, but he was undoubtedly a boy. He was a beautiful boy. As Gaara realized this, he noticed that Neji had long since stopped speaking and was looking at him expectantly. Maybe Neji had asked him a question. Maybe not. Either way, Gaara looked at him suddenly and asked if he had ever kissed anyone before.

Neji blinked, lashes playing over his cheeks for a fleeting moment. "No, why?"

"Can I kiss you?" he found himself asking, not quite understanding the question himself, or where it had even come from. It was a warm night. Neji was smiling. Neji was beautiful.

And Neji laughed and said yes, and so they snuck off to a dark room, and Gaara hesitantly pushed his lips to another person's for the first time. It was strange; it was strange because Gaara didn't really know what he was doing or why, and he could feel the pounding _thump_ of his heart as it seemed to beat in his ears. It was suddenly horrifying, and had Neji not placed his hands on Gaara's shoulders and pressed into the kiss, Gaara might have started crying. When the voice of one of the adults echoed in from the hall, they broke apart quickly, as if they had been doing something wrong, and Gaara could tell by the look in Neji's eyes in that moment that that was how the boy across from him felt. But Gaara didn't feel that way; to him, it didn't feel wrong at all. That was what scared him, if anything.

He never saw Neji again after that, but he never forgot either. As he matured each year, gaining experience and development, he never once was able to forget. Still, he told himself that it would be all right, because he would never see Neji again, and so things would certainly be all right. But then he entered High School and Neji was once again there, and suddenly Neji was _everywhere_, and Gaara really thought that he might suffocate. His mind was choking when he wrote the letter, and he was dying inside when he gave it to him, but he had to let it out. He had to let the suffocating feelings out or he felt that he really might go mad.

And then everything fell apart.

Grabbing his cell phone from his desk, Gaara searched through his contacts before finding the one he was looking for and dialing the corresponding number. After roughly three minutes, it was picked up.

"Hello?" Naruto's voice greeted on the other end of the line.

"Let's not meet tomorrow, Uzumaki," Gaara stated definitively, cutting right to the chase.

"Gaara?" Naruto sounded surprised, before breaking into an excited "Hello," and then pausing. "But why?"

"I don't feel well."

"Are you okay?" Naruto quickly asked, reminding Gaara of that afternoon at school, as well as the previous evening. "Anything I can help you with?"

Gaara's grip on his phone tightened a bit. "Goodbye, Uzumaki." Closing his phone, he tossed it on his bed and turned off the overhead lights. Falling back onto his soft sheets, he was fully prepared to attempt sleep when his phone went off, loudly announcing an incoming text message. Indifferently reaching around the bed's surface until he found his cell, he pulled it close and downloaded the text. It was from Naruto.

/Get well soon/ was all it said, followed by a happy-face emoticon. Staring at the electronic script for a moment, he closed his phone, once again casting the room in darkness.

ooo

"Good morning," Kankurou smiled politely as Gaara entered the kitchen the next morning. Placing a plate full of warm breakfast before Gaara's designated spot at the table, he glanced over at the oven-clock. "Aren't you a little late today?"

"I'm not going to school," stated Gaara in a level tone, sitting at the table.

Raising a brow at him, Kankurou walked over and stopped by the fridge. "Why?"

"I don't feel like it today."

Knowing that was the only answer he was going to get, Kankurou decided to let it drop. Opening the fridge, he shuffled around until he emerged with a small, Tupperware bowl, which he promptly sat in front of his brother as well.

Gaara looked from the bowl to Kankurou, clearly not in the mood for guessing games. "What's this?" His elder brother merely pointed at the lid, and when Gaara looked closer, he noticed the message scrawled onto the plastic with permanent marker:

_Get well, Mr. Frown. Your friend, Naruto._

It was obvious that Gaara was in a bit of a loss as to how to react, and Kankurou found that extremely interesting. He even found himself smiling a bit as he watched his younger brother struggle with the right expression without trying to give too much away. Little did he know that he had practically given everything away already.

"What are you smiling about, Aniki?" Gaara questioned, undoubtedly bothered. What he really meant was, _It's not funny._

When one corner of Kankurou's mouth turned up, it clearly communicated, _Oh, yes it is_. "Nothing," he waved off, picking up the container and placing it back in the fridge. "He must have dropped it off sometime last night, because it was on the front step when I got home from cram school last night. I believe you said his name was Uzumaki Naruto?"

"You know his name," said Gaara flatly, glancing absentmindedly at the table and running a hand through his hair.

With a small smile, Kankurou shook his head in an approving manner. "Maybe he's not as bad as I thought…"

Bringing himself to look at his brother, Gaara was disturbed to see Kankurou grinning at him as though he knew some great secret. Unable to take it any longer, he glared and left the table.

"Where are you off to?" Kankurou's voice carried over to him, an overbearingly artificial quality attached to it.

Gritting his teeth, Gaara mumbled out "School," before starting up the stairs to get dressed.

Kankurou watched him go, still smiling. He would have to invite Naruto to dinner. It was sure to be amusing.

oooTBCooo

"kouhai": how one addresses someone in a lower grade at the same school  
"sempai": how one addresses someone in a higher grade at the same school  
(I forgot these last time; I'm dumb.)

What's up with these long chapters, anyway?? One thing you'll notice is I play around with their ages a bit in this story. Kankurou could be in college, but his role in the story fits better if he's a senior. Then, of course, there's Neji. I just gave him two years. Cool. (Were any of you surprised it was Neji? I was. I thought about making it Sasuke, but that would've complicated things _way_ too much). Sorry for the slight delay on this chapter, but I had a feeling it would happen, as I forewarned. I've been doing pretty well with updates so far though, right? As for the storyline, my brain has been thinking up some pretty weird stuff, and at this point, I'm just gonna roll with it. You'll know when you see it happening—it's a particular thing, and I just may be crazy for attempting it. And next chapter…oh my; I do believe it may end up being my favorite chapter out of the entire story. I'm quite excited! I do believe you'll enjoy it as well. That's all I can say. And thanks for reading! The reviews made me smile, so thanks for those, too. Spring is upon us; enjoy!


	6. Discovering the Truth of Matters

**Chapter 6**: Discovering the Truth of Matters

Something had changed between today and the previous day—that much Gaara knew for sure. When he had shown up for class, following his lively conversation with his brother, Naruto was (joyously) the first person he came across. And heaven help it all if he wasn't again smiling. Gaara realized that what bothered him the most about it was the way it broke across his face, a gradual shift of his features. Naruto's visage was relaxed until that moment when blue met blue-green, and suddenly his lips curved upward, as if he could do nothing _but _smile. It was downright disturbing. And to top it all off, Naruto was once again at his side. Too close, of course.

"Feeling better?" Naruto asked, shrugging his hands into his pockets. On this particular day, Gaara really noticed the blonde's taller height, and suddenly he felt infinitely smaller. It was not a pleasant feeling.

In the end, Gaara chose to ignore him, sashaying past him and heading on down to his locker. That day, he was a bit later than usual in getting to school, and so the morning hall-walk was a bit more crowded than he expected.

"Tsk, tsk," came a voice behind him, and Gaara glared as Naruto came to his side. "You're too tiny for this big world, Gaara," he said with his usual grin, raising his hand to pat Gaara on the head (a move that Gaara would have _definitely _protested) before he decided against it and let his hand drop to his side. "So, are you going to tutor me today then? Since you're here…"

"No."

Naruto immediately made a face, before staring at Gaara for a moment. "It's just as well," he finally said with a sigh. "You look really tired today. Have you been sleeping properly?"

For a moment, for this really _strange_ and _displaced_ moment, Gaara almost told him that he had had his mind on things lately and so he was having trouble sleeping. That was before he reminded himself that Naruto was an idiot and had no business knowing the details of his personal life. "I'm fine," he said in the end, hoping it would placate him.

"Hm," was all Naruto said in reply. When Gaara reached his locker, Naruto stopped with him, leaning one arm on the locker to Gaara's immediate right. He was too close. Opening his mouth to speak, whatever the blonde was going to say was lost when one of a group of male students passing by quite purposely pushed Naruto into Gaara. As Naruto was already leaning slightly downward, his face came crashing awkwardly into Gaara's face, his lips making contact with the redhead's right cheekbone.

Naruto's first instinct was to completely freeze up, his lips still awkwardly connected to Gaara's face. His next reaction involved a strange martini of embarrassment and anger in which he pivoted on his heel and raised his fist, prepared to yell some kind of retort. It fell flat, however, when he realized the group had already disappeared into the mass of students in the hall. However, the _immediate _mass of students had gloriously witnessed the scene, and many were already whispering and laughing.

"Idiots," Naruto managed out, scratching the back of his neck and scowling. "I'm sorry about that, Gaara."

Looking at him, Gaara turned to his locker and pulled out the necessary books, completely ignoring him. Despite it all, he was surprised that Naruto had not reacted in a more disgusted manner. Anyone else…

Shutting his locker, he turned and narrowed his gaze when he noticed that Naruto was still there. "Don't you have class, Uzumaki?"

"Sit with us at lunch," Naruto suddenly said, a serious expression on his face. Gaara wondered how in the world his thought processes had gone from cheek-kiss to lunch. Then, all at once, the blond's face seemed to melt into a grin. "We can plan our revenge." His hands again in his pockets, he began walking down the hall backwards, eyes never leaving Gaara's. "See you then, Mr. Frown." A few seconds later, he ended up running into Kakashi, sending the teacher's papers everywhere. This was followed by a stern lecture on walking down halls the _right _way, and why Naruto was old enough to know better. Naruto scratched his head and bowed apologetically, but Kakashi simply shook his head and indicated that Naruto had better start picking the papers all up. Gaara watched it all with mild irritation, but somewhere deep within, he was sure that he felt the dormant urge to smile.

ooo

"Oh my god, Sasuke," Naruto chewed on his nails, a perfect manifestation of a "nervous wreck". "Oh my god."

Sasuke leaned on his arm and continued to eat his lunch, clearly unfazed by his friend's unnatural behavior. "I shudder to hazard a guess as to what it is you've done this time."

Pausing in his nail biting, Naruto looked at Sasuke as if he were trying to gauge whether or not Sasuke was worthy of knowing his affliction, before he seemed to agree with himself that it was all right. "It was horrible," he started with, bringing his hands in front of him. "One minute it was—," he lifted his left hand, "—and the next minute—," he rose his right, "—and then _blam_!" And then, as if to illustrate "blam", he slapped his hands together.

Sasuke just stared at him, blinking and arching a brow. "Believe it or not…I have no idea what you just said."

In a moment of exasperation, Naruto grabbed his blond hair. "I thought it was obvious, Sasuke. Some jerks pushed me into Gaara, and I kissed him!"

"Oh?" This did seem to grab Sasuke's attention somewhat, but his smirk did nothing to reassure Naruto. "You say you kissed him?"

Hearing it from another's lips seemed to debilitate him, for Naruto appeared to melt into a strange pool on the lunch table, a blank stare on his face. "It's over for me. Now he'll think I'm gay, and just after I had worked so hard to become his friend."

Sasuke was seconds away from rolling his eyes. "You are so melodramatic sometimes. Haven't we talked about this? Besides, it wasn't even a real kiss. A kiss is intentional; your case was clearly an accident…unless you're telling me it wasn't—"

"It was!" Naruto defended, coming to life out of his crumpled form. "I played it off cool, but I—." He seemed like a character in an old movie that had lost everything. "Now he'll surely think I'm gay, just like…Gaara."

Sasuke squinted at his words, even cocking his head slightly to one side. "That was awfully redundant, Naruto."

"No…" he broke into an awkward grin, eyes fixed to the space above Sasuke's head. "It's Gaara."

Turning to confirm it was unnecessary, for Gaara pulled out the chair beside Sasuke and sat, a blatant look of extreme displeasure on his face. "I think I've decided that I really hate you, Uzumaki," he said, and while his words were harsh, his face was surprisingly calm. That was probably what made it so intimidating.

Naruto laughed it off, a poor excuse for a smile on his face. "It's not what you think, I was just—" he rose his left hand, "—and then—_blam_!" He clasped his hands. "You know?"

Gaara looked at him like he was crazy, and Sasuke silently agreed with him. "Your stupidity is out of this world."

"It's not what it—," Naruto tried to counter, stumbling over his words. "It doesn't have to do with you being…gay, or anything." His sentence had started out strong, but thinned out to being almost inaudible by the end.

"So, you knew," stated Gaara cryptically, and it was by no means a question. He seemed to Sasuke in that moment, like a volcano before it erupts—it looks calm and approachable, but inside, it's boiling and raging and is about to explode.

Naruto broke the eye contact, his blue orbs fixing themselves to his own lap. "I…I knew, but I just found out yesterday."

"I see." Raising elegantly from his chair, his piercing gaze never once left Naruto's form. "Don't flatter yourself, Uzumaki," he avowed crossly. "Just because I'm gay doesn't mean I'm going to like you." And with that declarative statement, he was gone.

Naruto was completely awestruck. When he was done staring in disbelief at the chair where Gaara had just sat, he finally looked to Sasuke as if to confirm what he had just heard. Sasuke sat quietly, his eyes unreadable, but his hand quite unsuccessfully covering his amused grin.

"You think that's funny?" Naruto questioned, still in utter amazement.

A small chuckle broke out, before Sasuke restrained himself. "That, my friend, was a serious burn. Even I felt the heat."

Naruto just stared at him. "When did you become so funny, Sasuke?"

With a smile, Sasuke leaned on his hand. "When you became a lovesick poet."

ooo

Naruto sat silently at his desk, looking forward but not at any particular thing. "Lovesick poet, he says," he said reminiscently, tapping his foot on the floor. "Lovesick poet." It was utterly preposterous. He let out a small laugh that came out more through his nose, before shifting until he was leaning on one arm. Gaara walked in and donned his customary glare when he saw that Naruto was sitting beside him again, but it softened as he took his seat, immediately beginning to read.

Foot still tapping, Naruto glanced over at him as Gaara continued to indulge in his book. He could see his turquoise eyes as they skimmed over the page, taking in each letter, each word, each greater meaning. There was something somewhat attractive about it all. Naruto scrunched his face up as he decided that "attractive" was a dangerous word to use, but when Gaara blinked and moved on to the next page, that was simply what it was. Gaara really was interesting to look at; he was unique. No one else's hair was the same shade, and Naruto knew he had never seen such eyes. He was like anybody else, and yet, there was no one else like him.

Was that what it was like to _really_ start seeing someone? Not to just see them, but to _see _them?

"What?" Gaara finally asked, turning toward the blond with his characteristic look of annoyance.

Naruto only smiled softly. "Nothing…" He liked to think he couldn't control what he said next, but when he said it, it was exactly how he felt. "I just like looking at you."

The annoyance in Gaara's face seemed to decrease as he took on a look of perplexed normality. What he said next was structured as a warning, but came out more worn-out than anything. "You should be careful what you say, Uzumaki."

"Call me, 'Naruto'," said the blond benevolently, mouth still curved with a smile.

"No," Gaara answered, the look of annoyance reappearing as he turned back to his book.

Pouting, Naruto rested his chin in his hands and faced forward. A movement out of the corner of his eyes alerted him that someone was beside him, and he thought they were just walking past him, but the peripheral shadow remained.

"Gaara," a male voice teased, quite obviously imitating an effeminate voice. "Oh Gaara, I just _love_ looking at you."

Naruto already knew who it was, but he turned and glared anyway. "Kiba, knock it off." He and Naruto were friends, and it was common for them to joke around, but Naruto didn't want to joke around about that particular subject.

Kiba faked a look of hurt and batted his eyelashes. "But I'm not Kiba," he giggled like a girl and slapped Naruto playfully on the arm. "I'm Naruto, and I _loooove_ Gaara." A few students in the vicinity, mostly girls, laughed outwardly at Kiba's comical display, but Naruto maintained his stoicism and turned away from him. "Aw, Naruto, learn to take a joke, man," he lightly chided, cuffing the blond on the arm. Leaning in close, he whispered, "You know he's a _fag_, right?"

Something electric seemed to go through Naruto then. The word was said with revulsion and with disgust, with hate, and it had been emphasized and uttered purposefully louder so that Gaara would be able to hear it. He suddenly pictured himself as a young boy, playing ball outside with a few friends and laughing at the older man next door who had a male partner. The couple was really nice, and they smiled and waved whenever they saw Naruto, but he always turned around and ran.

"_Stay away_," his friends had warned_. "Just stay away from _them_._"

He suddenly hated that part of himself. Maybe that's why he punched Kiba. Maybe he thought he was rebelling against a part of himself. Either way, he had never punched anyone before—not seriously, at least—and the first thing he noticed was that it hurt. It actually hurt pretty badly. As he pulled his hand back and shook it, Kiba reeled backward, letting out a whelp of pain and holding his nose. Naruto could only stare at his hand as a thin trail of blood seeped from a small cut on one of his knuckles where it had probably scraped a tooth. The pain seemed to numb, and everything seemed to numb as Naruto looked up and saw that blood was seeping from between Kiba's fingers, too. It was surreal.

"What the hell was that for, Naruto?" Kiba spat out angrily, voice muffled by his hand, and maybe a little bit of blood. "Did I really deserve it?"

Naruto looked at him intently. "Deserve?" he repeated disconnectedly, almost as if he was disconnected from himself. Did _Gaara _really deserve such treatment? He could feel himself chuckling bitterly, but couldn't hear it. At least when Kiba punched him, he couldn't feel it.

ooo

The next time Naruto opened his eyes, all he could see was red. When that slowly cleared away, stark whiteness met his gaze. It was too harsh, and after a moment, he had to close his eyes.

"That was quite a stunt, Naruto," Sasuke's voice carried over from somewhere to his right. "I don't know whether to be disappointed or proud."

"What happened?" Naruto's voice was scratchy for minor disuse and the haze that follows sleep.

"I walked in after the fact, but when I came in, everyone was crowded around your unconscious body—everyone except for Kiba, who was holding his nose and staring at you in slight shock. Kakashi came in and broke it up." Sasuke's footsteps sounded until they ceased by the bed. "He caught you pretty good on the cheek, but at least you won't have a black eye."

"What's happening to me, Sasuke," Naruto inquired, bringing his hands up to cover his eyes. He could feel a bandage that covered his right cheekbone and a stinging sensation when he lightly pressed it. Another stretched across his knuckles.

"…I don't know."

"I can't believe I punched Kiba. Kiba's my friend."

"Gaara is, too." And, after a moment, Sasuke said, "That's why you did it, right?"

Pulling his hands away, Naruto looked again at the blinding white of the ceiling. "I don't know…I feel like I don't know anything anymore."

Sasuke put his hands in his pockets and smiled. "You don't always have to know everything."

"It'd be easier."

"Would it?" asked Sasuke, raising a brow in sync. "I think it'd be more difficult. It would take all the fun away."

Naruto mulled over his words and sat up, but Anko was nowhere to be found. He wasn't surprised, as she usually found ways to sneak out of the office, but the hastily scribbled note, which sat up on her desk and said she would be back in five minutes (an obvious lie), was enough to pull a small smile from him. "Where's Gaara?" he questioned, turning to face his raven-haired companion.

Sasuke shrugged. "He came with me when I piggybacked you to the infirmary, and even helped me to situate you in the cot. But after that, he looked at you, called you an idiot, and left."

Naruto smirked to himself. "That's so like him." Looking at the wall-clock, he was surprised to see that it was already time to go. In fact, it was far past the time that the buses were scheduled to pick them both up. "You missed the bus because of me," he said, as the truth of the matter hit him.

"And?" Sasuke looked unaffected. "You're my friend. I wasn't just going to leave you here."

"You're going to make someone really happy one day," Naruto said with a grin, trying to picture something, but finding whatever it was difficult. "I wonder what kind of person you're going to end up with."

"Who knows?" the black-haired student said with a shrug. "What kind of person are _you_ going to end up with?"

Naruto mimicked his stance, exaggerating a shrug. "Who knows?"

Staring at him in a scrupulous manner, Sasuke suddenly smirked and started for the door. "I think _I _know."

Naruto blinked. "Who?"

Sasuke just tossed up a wave and paused at the doorway, looking out at something. His expression was perplexed before the smirk returned, and he told the blond, "See you tomorrow."

It didn't take too long to figure out his friend's mystification, for a moment after Sasuke had left, Gaara walked in. He stood in the doorway, a blank look on his face, before he seemed to decide he was too far away and so walked further in. Coming all the way up to the foot of the bed, he simply stood there for a moment, bag slung over his shoulder, and an expression that was reminiscent of their very first encounter.

"Hey, Gaara," Naruto greeted cheerfully, throwing up a wave of his own. "Why are you here?" Again he looked at the clock, "Didn't you miss your ride?"

After a measured span of time, Gaara said, "My brother's taking me home."

"Well, we're even now," the blond laughed, pointing to his bandaged cheek.

Gaara continued to stare at him, appearing as if there was an internal battle raging on inside of him. "Why are you doing this?" he said finally, clearly aggravated, and maybe a little tired as well.

Naruto arched a fine brow. "Doing what?"

"Pretending to care. You're just like everyone else, so why don't you just be like them?"

"Like everyone else—_pretending_?" inquired Naruto in blatant confusion. "I'm being sincere, Gaara. Why can't you see that?"

"You're being an idiot," stated Gaara flatly. "Starting fights with your friends, failing class—"

"Neither of which were intentional," Naruto corrected, raising a finger to reiterate his point.

Gaara looked like he was losing his hold on things for once, like he was about to get angry, before he took a subtle breath and restored his calm. Naruto smiled inwardly as he considered the fact that maybe, for once, he had control of the conversation, _he_ was the one remaining composed, because, while he usually didn't feel confident about certain things, he knew he felt confident about this.

"What is this really about," he found himself asking. Kicking back the sheets, he stood and took a step toward Gaara. "_Who_ is this really about? Me?...Or you?"

Gaara's hands curled to fists at his sides. "Kakashi told me to tell you that you have detention tomorrow for starting a fight." Loosening his grip, he said emotionlessly, "That is all," before turning to leave.

"It was worth it."

Maybe Gaara stopped because Naruto's voice surprised him. Maybe he stopped because the confidence in Naruto's voice when he had spoken had been so strong. Maybe Naruto's idiocy was simply rubbing off on him. "I won't be tutoring you for the rest of the week," he said, bracing his hand on the wall by the exit. "Take this time to fix things with your friends…and please leave me alone." He was only there a minute more before he left.

Naruto saw his own reflection across the room in one of the mirrors. His copy stood there, motionless, silent, and sad. Why couldn't he do the right thing? He had had the upper hand, hadn't he? Why did Gaara still walk out in the end?…Why did Naruto _let_ him?

"_Fix it,"_ Sasuke's voice sounded in his mind. _"Fix it." _That time it was his own. Running into the hall, Naruto tried to figure out where Gaara could have gone. Those crazy-fast feet had probably carried him all the way home already. Naruto could only hope he might stop by his locker. He rushed into the nearest stairwell, dangerously skipping a few steps and basically falling into the hall. He bent over to catch his breath, but voices to his left caught his attention. Glancing over, three dark figures occupied the end of the hall, but they were difficult to distinguish because the light was shining toward him, making them mere silhouettes. But that was definitely in the area of Gaara's locker, and as Naruto's vision strained to see, he could tell that those were definitely two of the idiots who had pushed him into Gaara that very same day.

As he took a step toward them, he saw the glint of red hair too late before one of the guys shoved him backwards roughly. Naruto broke into a sprint and felt the fury rising up in him again as Gaara's back crashed loudly into a locker and he slid down to the ground.

"Leave him alone!" Naruto yelled, surprised at the level and tone of his voice. Kakashi even stepped out into the hall, ready to start reprimanding, but he stopped when he saw Naruto barreling down the hall. As he came even closer, he saw that it was Dozu and Zaku, two of the school's well-known troublemakers, but they turned and left hurriedly when they saw him. "Stupid…idiots," he breathed out, coming to stop by Gaara's fallen form. The annoying pair was known for starting fights whenever and with _whom_ever they could. He and Gaara were simply the unlucky chosen that day. "Are you all right," Naruto asked, breath finally coming more slowly as he extended an open palm toward the redhead.

Gaara looked at his hand, and then in his eyes. He looked tired. "I'm fine." Both pairs of eyes widened as Gaara touched his cheek and drew back his hand, finding the fingertips damp. A tear had rolled down his cheek. How long had it been since he had seen one of his own? Rubbing his eye, he quickly stood, ignoring Naruto's hand and walking past him.

Naruto sighed and watched him go, gone…"with the wind", as some might say.

Kakashi stepped forward, arms crossed, but a small, encouraging smile on his face. "…Don't give up, Uzumaki-kun."

Naruto brought himself to look at him, a skeptical expression, no doubt, on his face. "Didn't you just issue me a detention, sensei?"

"I did," he nodded emphatically. "Don't be late, either." With a little chuckle, he turned and went back into the classroom. Naruto watched him go, finding it difficult to like him, but also finding it particularly difficult to dislike him either.

"_I have faith in you, Naruto,"_ he had said. _"Be sure to take care of Gaara."_

Naruto finally felt that he understood what he meant.

oooTBCooo

Hm, so this wasn't the favorite chapter that I thought it would be (though I enjoyed it), but the next chapter definitely will be. Let's face it; I don't know what's going to happen any more than you do. This is the one story I can't extensively plan out. And Kiba's one of my favorite characters, but someone has to play devil's advocate occasionally. Just don't pass final judgment on him yet. Or anyone. This chapter feels so short, especially compared to the last two chapters, but the next one will probably be super-long (dare I say the longest so far?), and I'm worried I won't be able to update within a week's time again, so I hope this will do for now. Enjoy your weekends and lives, dearies, and don't get into _too_ much trouble.


	7. Voices, Hugs, and Progress

**Chapter 7**: Voices, Hugs, and Progress

It looked like it would rain again.

Naruto gazed at the dark, foreboding clouds and frowned. They reminded him a little of Gaara, the way they seemed to hold so much but release so little. He hadn't dreamed it, had he? Naruto was sure he had seen a tear roll down the red-haired student's cheek. He was positive, and yet, they had both looked at it as if it were some kind of mistake. Was it his fault? Maybe it was. Gaara had made it quite clear that Naruto's presence annoyed him, but he stuck by his side anyway. Was that really the best way to go about things? Maybe it was Naruto's fault that Gaara was so stressed out. Maybe he would never know.

"_Take this time to fix things with your friends…and please leave me alone."_

The words and cold air meshed together, causing Naruto to shiver a bit. He knew what he had to do—Naruto knew that he couldn't give up. Still, it was one thing to know the right thing to do. It was an entirely different thing to actually do it. And who was to say that Gaara would even yield? Naruto might put in all the effort, only to have Gaara still shun him in the end, and then it would all be for nothing. But would it really be for _nothing_?

"Whoa," Naruto was jolted out of his thoughts as he nearly ran into someone. Abruptly stopping, he was surprised to see that he was met with a cool, emerald gaze, eliciting a brief image of blue-green eyes and red hair. She was still in her uniform, the blue-plaid skirt off-setting the white button-up and complimenting her navy knee-highs. "Watch where you're going, Naruto," Sakura laughed, clicking the heels of her penny-loafers together.

Strangely enough, the first thing Naruto considered when she spoke was that Gaara had told him that at one time. Pushing that aside, he rubbed the back of his neck, an apologetic grin already on his face. "Sakura-chan…sorry about that." Looking around, he realized he was right in front of her house. Any other day, he would have noticed it, but he supposed his thoughts were in a bit of a jumble to pay his surroundings much mind.

"Are you okay?" she asked, worry gracing her features. A small wind blew, ruffling her pink strands, and she idly tucked a lock behind her ear.

"I'm fine," Naruto said, feeling one of those pathetic smiles tugging at his lip. "It's one of those days, you know?"

She stared at him for a moment, a small smile on her face, as if she could sympathize with his feelings. "It is…" Glancing at her house for a moment, she faced the blond with a more genuine expression. "Why don't you come in for a bit? I'll make us some tea."

Naruto stared at her in utter disbelief, before resuming his composure, or at least doing his best to fake it. "Yes—sure—," scratching his head, his embarrassed smile still had a kind of charm to it. "Thank you."

He couldn't remember how long it had been since he had last been in her house. When he thought about it, it had to have been at least seven or eight years, which seemed like a long span of time, but seeing as the house hadn't changed very much, Naruto felt that it didn't feel as long as it really had been. It was strange, because they had been great friends as children, but they slowly drifted apart as the years rolled by.

"Is green tea okay?" Sakura called from the kitchen, upper body immersed in a cabinet.

"Yeah," Naruto replied. At first, he rested his hands on the table, before deciding that they were better in his lap. Five seconds later, they were on the table again.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Naruto?" Sakura said, emerging from the kitchen with a tray full of provisions. Kneeling by the futon in the front room, she began setting the table almost in a ritual manner, but there was a certain beauty to it. When she was younger, she had been taught the art of tea ceremony, so perhaps that was where her natural grace stemmed from.

"It has," Naruto finally agreed, gratefully accepting a small, porcelain cup of tea. "Have you been well?" Something in his mind was going off. There was a part of him that was trying to alert him of something, but for some reason, Naruto didn't want to know what it was.

"I've been great," the pink-haired girl explained. "It's _you_ I'm worried about. I've been hearing some interesting things about you, Naruto…"

"You have?" Naruto asked, though he was not surprised. That wasn't to say he wasn't bothered, however.

Sakura looked at him with a kind of sympathy. "Yes. In fact, Ino just called and told me you got into a fight with Kiba today. I'm not too big on rumors and gossip, but…" Her green eyes landed on his bandaged hand for a second. "Has everything been all right, Naruto?" she asked suddenly, her tone reverting to a more worried one.

"Me?" Naruto said in surprise, even pointing at himself. "I'm fine," he tried to say encouragingly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Sometimes I feel really bad," Sakura said dejectedly, looking down as if she felt she couldn't look him in the eyes. Like Gaara, there was a certain attractive quality about her that could not be explained. "Sometimes I feel like I abandoned you."

Naruto felt a strange pang in his chest, one he hadn't felt for a long time. "You didn't abandon me, Sakura," he said as comfortingly as he could. "We just…grew up." Hesitantly, Sakura looked up at him, her emerald eyes sincerely sad. Naruto found it even more difficult to smile, but with a little more prompting, he was finally able to do so. "We just grew up. And look at me now," he swung his arms a little at his sides. "I've grown into a rather handsome young man, if I don't say so myself."

Sakura looked at him with a skeptical smirk. "Some people never change. Honestly though," she balanced her cup in her palm, "how have you been lately?"

Naruto traced the rim of his own cup, before glancing in at his wavering, liquid reflection. "I've been…well."

"You were never very good at lying, Naruto," Sakura mused nostalgically.

Naruto sighed, rippling the delicate surface of his tea. "It just…so many things have been happening lately—the least of which I'd care to admit is my failing English."

Sakura arched a fine brow. "Ouch."

"Yeah, and then there's this recent stuff with Kiba," he rested his cheek in his palm. "And, of course, the less recent stuff with _him_." He waved it off, "But that's a long story—"

"I have all afternoon," offered the female student kindly, "and plenty of tea."

Looking at her quickly, it was clear that that was not what Naruto had expected to hear. He looked away again, contemplating her offer to listen, and Naruto had to agree that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to talk to someone who was on the "outside". For some reason, he felt like he could tell her, but oddly, and a little unsettling was the fact that it had nothing to do with the fact that he had a crush on her. Again, the small voice in his mind seemed to try and tell him something, but Naruto pushed it aside, ruffling his blond locks, before telling Sakura the story. Of course, there were certain things he had to leave out, like the mouth infatuation, the compulsory touching, and certainly the kissing impulse, but he told her the greater bit of the tale, from the poem, to Gaara walking out on him that same afternoon. Sakura listened attentively, a smile slowly deepening as Naruto progressed throughout his story, and the blond wasn't sure he liked the expression.

When he was finished, she was grinning almost widely, looking even like she wanted to laugh. "Gaara seems like a very interesting boy," she said, taking a sip of her tea.

"He's something," Naruto agreed.

"I've seen him around a few times, but he keeps a rather low profile." She hesitated with whatever she was going to say next. "Isn't he…?"

Naruto was staring into his tea again. "He is…but it doesn't matter," he added quickly, looking up at her with a strange conviction.

Even Sakura looked a little surprised, before smiling a bit again. "You're right; it doesn't matter. You like him a lot, don't you?" she asked, looking somewhat amused.

"Like him?" Naruto said quickly, both cautious and confused.

"Yeah, as a friend," she clarified, nails tapping out a kind of tune on her glass.

"Well, yeah," said the blond, even nodding a little. "Yeah, I like him…as a friend." Even though it had already been established and clarified, Naruto felt safer somehow by adding that last bit on his sentence…like somehow, he was risking something by _not_ adding it on. The more he dwelled on it, the more uncomfortable he was starting to feel, and so finally, he pulled out his phone and glanced at the time. "Well, it's late, and I've kept you too long already."

"Not at all," Sakura bowed slightly, pink spilling over her shoulders.

Naruto bowed back, standing and pulling his bag over his arm. "Thank you for the tea."

Sakura stood as well, hands clasped before her and a congenial smile on her face. "Thank you for the company."

Naruto smiled back, but he felt guilty, like he should have been more enthusiastic about what had just transpired. That voice nagged lightly in his thoughts, but Naruto was sure to ignore it. He nearly jumped when Sakura hugged him, her thin arms circling behind him for the briefest of moments, before she had pulled back with another sympathetic smile.

"You looked like you needed it," she said, answering his unvoiced question. "You've always been good at deferring other people's pain…but don't forget about your own, okay?"

Naruto looked at her, momentarily too stunned to speak. "Yeah," he finally said after a moment. "Okay." The voice was more persistent than ever.

Sakura chuckled to herself and walked him to the door. "Take care, Naruto."

Smiling, Naruto walked out into the chilly evening air, already regretting the walk home though his house but a block away. "You, too," he said, stepping out onto the lawn. With a departing wave, he started off again toward his house. There should have been a bounce in his step, and where was the smile that used to take forever to fade following conversations with her? Where were the feelings? It was a bit distressful, because Naruto had always felt that he would always like her. Sure, it was a childish belief, but he figured it would have been more of a gradual fade, not this abrupt wrenching from what he had previously believed would last forever. Perhaps it was only a phase.

A few minutes later, he saw his house come into view, and he was glad for the warmth it provided when he was finally within its walls. It was eerie how dark and spooky it became when the afternoon rolled around, but that was due, in part, to Naruto being the only occupant. He had long since grown used to it, though; it had always been like that.

"I'm home," said Naruto quietly, taking off his shoes at the door and stepping into a pair of light blue slippers. Stretching a bit, he flipped on a light and headed toward the kitchen to make dinner. When he was used to the same, mundane routine, why on this particular day did he feel so very miserable?

Seeing her…It used to be a cure-all, his secret panacea, but she was starting to seem like everyone else. And Gaara was starting to seem like no one, so what exactly was going on? Naruto kind of wanted to call him, and he even took out his phone, staring at as if it held the answer to some penetrating riddle. With a plaintive release of breath, he pushed it into his back-pocket and turned on the stove.

ooo

Kankurou had barely pulled his motorbike into the driveway when Gaara slid off and disappeared into the house. Something was up. Leaning his bike against the brick of the building, the dull-blond draped his helmet on a handlebar and headed into the house. To his surprise, Gaara was seated in the living room, his eyes staring into the wispy flames of the fire as they emanated a comfortable heat. If it had been a truly bad day, Gaara probably would have locked himself in his room, but Kankurou took this as a good sign and a chance for some possible progress.

Clearing his throat to announce his presence, he stepped into the room. "What would you like for dinner?" he asked casually, looking at the fireplace as well. "I'll make whatever you like tonight."

Gaara draped an arm over the side of the couch, running the other through his hair momentarily. "I'm not hungry; make whatever you want."

Kankurou swayed a bit in place. "If Sis was here, she would make you eat."

"Aneki isn't here," was Gaara's level reply. And then, finally turning toward his brother, he asked, "Do _you_ propose to make me eat?" His expression, while dull, seemed to say, _I dare you_.

Kankurou simply smiled at his stubbornness, shaking his head as well. _I forfeit_.

That should have been the end of the conversation. Any other day it would have been the conclusion, but Kankurou walked over and took a seat next to his younger brother, seemingly throwing off some unstated balance that had been instituted long ago. Gaara even glanced over at him, irritation edging his face. "What are you doing?" he questioned, glad that the blond had had the decency to leave a space between them.

With a look of obviously-feigned surprise, Kankurou turned toward him. "Aren't I free to sit wheresoever I choose?"

Trying not to grimace too openly, Gaara turned away. Being obvious with his emotions would only feed into Kankurou's ego. He always seemed to know what Gaara was thinking, and took a strange delight in making sure Gaara was aware that he knew. "Do what you like," he mumbled vaguely.

"Thank you for your compliance," Kankurou replied, sarcasm artfully curbed. "So, how did the day progress?"

"Horrifically, thank you for reminding me."

"Sorry about that. I forgot you led such a terribly-inclined life."

Gaara continued looking forward for a short span, before he turned toward Kankurou with a glare. "I don't lead a terribly-inclined life."

Kankurou turned and stared at him.

"And you didn't forget," the redhead added, turning gratefully back toward the fire.

"How can I forget something that doesn't exist? It would be a complete anomaly. The world would cease to exist, and it just might explode altogether."

Gaara rubbed his temple, wishing the world _would_ explode. "Nevermind." With a tired sigh, he leaned back into the soft cushion of the upholstery, a headache brimming at the edges of his thoughts. He was thinking too much; if only he could stop the whole mechanism altogether, maybe he wouldn't feel so exhausted. From the corner of his eye, he saw Kankurou pull out a cigarette and set it between his lips. It hung there awkwardly, as if some great work were left unfinished. "Sis would kill you if she saw that."

The blond grinned, cigarette balanced between his teeth. "Aneki isn't here," he said slyly, a strange glitter in his eyes. _This is just between us_, they seemed to say. Gaara crossed his arms loosely, staring into the fire, not wanting anything between them at all. "Besides," continued the senior, taking the unlit object between his fingers and juggling it between his digits, "it's an old habit. Give a man a break," he said lightly, tucking it behind his ear. "Or at least some support—Well, I suppose _lack_ of support is what led to this in the first place."

Gaara felt his mouth twitch and found himself wondering if there was an implied insult somewhere within his words.

"—But I don't blame you," Kankurou was quick to add, a sad smile coming to his face. "I never once blamed you." Planting his hands on his knees, he stood, taking in a satisfactory breath. "Well, I'd better go—"

"Aniki?" Gaara said suddenly, expression troubled as he watched the firey display before him.

The older boy faced him, one hand in his pocket. "Yes?"

"When was the last time…I cried."

Kankurou blinked, obviously a little confused by the question, but he considered it nonetheless. "I suppose it was…hm, maybe ten—eleven years ago now. You were so cute," he said fondly, but the reminiscent smile only lasted as long as it took for him to remember the bad memories as well.

"Why?"

"Why?" repeated Kankurou, brows lifted a little. "I think you had tripped and fell, probably scraped your knee. It was something like that."

"Why do people cry?" Gaara seemed to be contemplating some deeper dilemma, his eyes directed toward the fireplace but not really seeing anything.

"I mean…" Even though the question was so simple, Kankurou found he had trouble answering it. "It's usually because outside or inside…they're in pain."

"What if you've forgotten what pain is," stated Gaara, eyes narrowing slightly, "but you still cry?"

Kankurou faced him for a moment, before settling simply with, "Then you haven't forgotten." When Gaara remained quiet for the better part of two-or-so minutes, Kankurou assumed he was finished and started to leave.

"Tell me when dinner is ready," Gaara said before he had left, eyes still gazing into the fire.

Kankurou felt himself smile, a warm feeling permeating his body. "Anything in particular you'd like?"

"Anything will do."

With an unseen nod, the older boy left, returning sooner than Gaara had expected. On the coffee table that sat adjacent to the couch he occupied, Kankurou placed a bowl, a pair of chopsticks, and a cup of tea. The substance in the bowl looked oddly familiar.

"It's the food from Naruto," Kankurou said, answering his brother's silent inquiry.

Gaara's face twisted to one of obvious complaint. "I don't want it."

"You said anything would do," the blond explained, pulling on his jacket and zipping it up. "So this is going to _have_ to do, because I have to go to cram-school now." He looked around for his keys, finally grabbing them up from one of the couch cushions. "Sorry we can't eat together tonight," he said at the door, pausing and twirling his keys around his index finger. "But, you probably wouldn't have wanted to, anyway." Gaara almost asked him how he would know, but he didn't want his words to be misconstrued. "Don't stay mad at him for too long," Kankurou added. "Whatever he did this time can't be that bad."

Gaara turned to tell him to mind his own business, but his brother had left, the door slamming somewhere in the background. Slowly turning toward the coffee table, he looked at the bowl of soup warily. After reproaching himself for being suspicious of soup, he took the bowl into his hands and started eating. It wasn't bad, and this upset the redhead a little, because he really wanted to hate him. He just couldn't bring himself to do it. He could dislike many people, he could even hate a few—what Gaara was pleased with, if anything, was the fact that he could disconnect himself from anyone. But why in the world did Naruto not stay away? Why didn't he take the hint? Why didn't he take the obvious rejections that were _not _hints? If people made fun of him, that was Gaara's concern, so when did Naruto start taking such matters into his own hands? And why? He didn't know what it was like to live in Gaara's world, so why did he keep on pretending to care? If anything annoyed Gaara, then this was what did it the most.

"_I'm being sincere, Gaara. Why can't you see that?"_

With a tired sigh, he sat his empty bowl back on the nearby table, laying the chopsticks crosswise over it. Why did he know it was going to be another restless night?

ooo

The following day progressed in an almost painfully-sluggish manner. Naruto had arrived late due to a faulty alarm, and to add to his morning's fun-filled beginning, everyone stopped and stared as he walked into the classroom and took his seat. And then the whispers began. The whispers actually progressed throughout the better portion of the day, and by the time English rolled around, Naruto decided to skip it entirely. Gaara didn't seem to be there anyway, so he couldn't really find the point. By lunch, he was merely glad to escape the gossiping herds, but the new form of opposition found itself within Sasuke and his bitter glare.

"Do you really think that if you skip class, all your problems will disappear?" he asked, irritation fully displayed. Naruto looked downward shamefacedly, and Sasuke decided that he wouldn't press it this time. "What happened when I left yesterday?" he settled with, irritation blunted but not quite suppressed.

With slight hesitation, Naruto finally conceded, explaining everything that had occurred. He couldn't bring himself to add in the confrontation with Sakura, however. Sasuke just stared at him when he was finished.

"Gaara cried?" he repeated, clearly in disbelief.

Naruto rubbed one of his temples, eyes focused on his desk, but thoughts focused on his memories. "No…it wasn't crying. It was like…" He looked up, frustration clearly playing across his facial features. "It was like a tear fell out on accident."

"On accident, you say…" It was clear that the black-haired boy seemed to doubt him. "Just one?"

"Did I measure it, Sasuke?" asked Naruto incredulously, looking at his friend with obvious skepticism. "I'm just saying what I saw, and what I saw was a drop of water come out of his eye."

Sasuke's eyelids lowered a tad. "Maybe the ceiling was dripping—," Naruto immediately threw his hands up in surrender and slumped down in his chair—"I'm just saying that I cannot picture him crying—," Naruto looked at him angrily, "—_tearing_...on accident. It'd just be…"

"Sad," Naruto finished, nodding as well. "It _was_ sad."

Sasuke raised a brow. "_Or_ unbelievable, odd, or even uncanny. But, I suppose if it was just one tear, it could've been a fluke."

"A fluke?"

"Yeah, sometimes when a person's going through stress, their body can do things it might not naturally do."

Naruto sat up a little. "Stress?"

"Yeah."

Tapping his fingers on the table for a moment, Naruto's expression turned to a more critical gaze. "What about kissing someone?"

Sasuke paused in his movement. "You said that was an accident."

"Not then," Naruto waved it off, "but can stress make a person…" His fingers threaded into his hair, grasping small handfuls of golden strands. "Can stress make a person want to kiss someone?"

Again, Sasuke looked at him intently, sitting silently for a while as his black eyes bored into Naruto's own blue ones. "Usually…it's feelings that do that."

"I know," his fists in his hair tightened, "but if it's unnatural, then could it be stress?"

Sasuke's head titled in confusion, but whether it was sincere or false, Naruto couldn't be sure. "Unnatural?" he said after a moment. "Unnatural how?"

"Unnatural in that it's not natural!" Naruto finally said heatedly, letting his hands drop rather loudly onto the tabletop. Sasuke looked from his hands to his disconcerted features before smirking just a bit.

"Point taken. I won't question it further." His hands met and folded, and he seemed to look off distantly for a moment, releasing a small sigh. "I suppose the urge to kiss someone could be stress-induced."

"Yes!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping up and pulling a fist to his chest.

Focusing once again on his friend, Sasuke could only stare. "If you knew the answer you wanted to hear, why did you even bother to ask?"

"Why not?" Naruto inquired, obviously seeing no harm in it. "It's good to be reassured every once in a while," he explained, taking his seat.

"Reassured?" A black brow rose. "What are you unsure about, Naruto?"

Naruto's confidence faltered as Sasuke's intense stare maintained its hold. He seemed to be asking the question as if he knew the answer, too. "Nothing," the blond said after a moment, realizing he had neglected to respond. It didn't come out sounding as confident as he had hoped.

"Nothing? But you wanted to kiss someone right?"

"Who said it was me?" asked Naruto, tapping his index fingers together.

"Would you be so excited for someone else?"

"I might."

"Oh really?"

Naruto met his gaze. "Really."

After looking at him for a few seconds longer, Sasuke finally broke the eye-contact, folding the trash from his lunch into a strange, cube-like contraption. "I suppose you're right…You've certainly been rather excited for a particular redhead I know."

Naruto was immediately defensive. "What are you insinuating?"

Sasuke looked at him in innocence. "What do you _think _I'm insinuating?"

The blond crossed his arms. "I think you know what I think you're insinuating."

"Would I really ask if I knew?"

"You might."

Sasuke settled with a smirk and let it drop, clearly pleased with how much he had stirred up his friend. "That aside, I really am proud of you, Naruto," he said, face taking on more of a genuine appearance. "I didn't get to tell you that yesterday."

Naruto blinked before rubbing the back of his head. "I didn't really do anything—"

"You did," stated Sasuke. "Gaara will come to appreciate it in his own time…You just have to give him that time. You'll see…And don't you dare give up," the boy warned.

Naruto felt himself smile, a familiar wave of determination flowing through him. "I won't."

ooo

Walking into the appointed detention-room was the scariest thing Naruto had done in ages. As soon as he had arrived that afternoon and seen that it was to be held in Iruka's classroom, he began hoping for some drastic miracle. A meteor shower would have definitely been nice, or at least a false fire alarm. When that thought entered his head, it was with great willpower that he didn't approach one of the small, red boxes and "accidentally" pull the lever.

Iruka's glare was probably the most intense he had ever seen as Naruto slinked in. In silence, the teacher pointed directly in front of him to a chair in the front row. It would have been fine, except it was situated two seats over from Kiba. The brown-haired boy had his face buried in his arms prior to Naruto's arrival, but when the blond approached his assigned seat, that head of brown hair raised slightly, an irritated glare slowly revealed. Naruto was careful not to break the gaze, a duel of sorts issued between them. Taking his seat, he leaned on an arm and turned toward Iruka.

"Let me guess," Iruka said, when Kiba finally sat up straight. He looked from the large, white bandage that covered Kiba's nose, and the pair of white bandages on Naruto's face and hand. "You two got into a fight; am I right?"

Naruto looked at the wood of his desk as if it provided some escape from his guardian's eyes. "Yes, sensei."

"Honestly," Iruka sighed, his arms crossing after a moment of silence. "Aren't you two friends? You shouldn't be doing this to one another."

Both Kiba and Naruto looked in opposite directions, away from each other, as if both felt it difficult to face the other in that moment. Naruto could remember when he had first met Kiba. It was his freshman year, and he had hung around after school one day, because he had missed the bus. As he strolled through the halls and came to the Art room, Kiba had jumped out, nearly scaring Naruto half to death. And to make everything much more awkward, the brunet had red-orange paint on both his cheeks, causing Naruto to ask if he was going for some kind of tribal look. After Kiba strictly defended that he was planning on one day majoring in art, and this was simply a form of outward expression, they had become instant friends. It was strange, but they just clicked. Naruto easily formed friendships, but he wondered why Gaara seemed so very much out of his grasp.

"Can I see you for a moment, Iruka?" Kakashi poked his head into the classroom, crooking a finger as well. Iruka looked carefully from Kiba to Naruto before rising from his seat and leaving the room. An uncomfortable silence seemed to stifle the air, and Naruto would've said something had not Kiba beat him to it.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, cheek in palm, staring toward the opposite wall.

Fiddling with his hands, Naruto's eyes remained fixed to his own wall as well. "I'm sorry, too…I shouldn't have punched you."

"You shouldn't have," Kiba agreed, obviously still a little sensitive about the situation. The huge bandage on his nose was a bit funny, though. "But…I shouldn't have said what I said, either. Fair?"

Naruto finally looked toward Kiba with an elevated brow. "Fair." Kiba looked at him with a contrite smile, red-orange paint again on his cheeks. "You know," said the blond, "the bandage looks good with the paint. You're like a living work of art…_Abstract_ art."

Kiba was clearly at a slight loss for words. "I'm going to take that as both an insult and a compliment, Naruto."

"Good," Naruto nodded. "That's how it was intended."

Kiba rolled his eyes and Naruto laughed right around the point when Iruka and Kakashi came back into the room. Both teachers stopped and stared at them for a moment, making sure they were the same students who had inflicted wounds on one another, before surrendering to the ever-changing minds of youth. In the end, Iruka let them go a little early with another advisement to stay out of trouble. The two said their farewells, and Kiba was picked up by one of his sisters, while Naruto was left to wait for the next bus. He pilfered around in the hallways for a little while, knowing the next bus wouldn't come for another hour, but that soon lost its merit, and he finally slumped down by a random locker.

"Can you block my locker _after_ I get my stuff out?" a slightly cynical voice asked.

Naruto looked up, and both he and his addresser were thrown into obvious confusion. Naruto would know that spiky-haired killer-build anywhere. In seconds he was on his feet. "Kankurou."

Kankurou frowned, slapping a hand to his forehead. "Kankurou-_sempai_," he clarified. "_Sempai_," he said again, his hand clasping onto Naruto's shoulder. The blond felt the bones of his arm tremble. Kankurou wasn't even that big, but he somehow possessed an abnormal amount of strength. Naruto would be sure to be nice.

"What's a person gotta do to get respect around here, anyway?" Kankurou rambled on, releasing Naruto's arm and waving his hand in the air as if to swat a fly. "First Gaara, now you—"

"Gaara?" Naruto cut him off, perking up instantly. "How is he?"

Resting his hand on his hip, Kankurou looked at the blond across from him in a skeptical manner. "Why should I tell you, kouhai? All you do is annoy him."

Naruto wanted to speak, but couldn't find the words. What was said was true. That did seem to be all Naruto did, but he couldn't give up. "I just want to know how he's doing…as a friend. I may annoy him, but—I—it's not my intention. He's just so…"

"Hard to understand?" Kankurou offered.

"Yeah, and…"

"Impossibly impatient?"

"Exactly…" Naruto looked at Kankurou with slight awe, clearly impressed. "You know him well."

A strange form of sadness seemed to flash across the older blond's face. "I know him well enough." And then he seemed back to normal—whatever that implied. "Once you get to know him better, you'll learn that there's a big difference between what he simply says, and what he really means. It's like having two conversations."

Naruto looked at him for a moment, watching the way his demeanor totally changed when he spoke about Gaara. He seemed completely harmless and rather enjoyable to be around—gentle even. "You're really happy when you talk about him," he said. "You must care about him a lot."

"Of course," Kankurou shrugged slightly, a faint blush spreading across his cheeks as he smiled. "He's my little brother. I care about him more than anything." He started walking, forgetting about his locker, and Naruto felt compelled to follow. "How would you like to have dinner with us this evening?" he asked, stopping without warning when they had walked for some time.

"Dinner?" Naruto repeated, unsure if he had heard right.

"Yeah—in exchange for the one you brought Gaara."

Naruto wanted to ask how he knew, before remembering he had left the bowl on the front step of the house. "I don't know that Gaara would be glad to see me…"

"Probably not," the senior said bluntly, "but he'll have to deal with it." And then he rubbed his hands together impishly, "When Gaara gets annoyed, it can be _quite _entertaining. That alone is worth you coming over."

"But it's a school night," Naruto rubbed his arm, "I'd hate to intrude."

Kankurou bopped Naruto on the head. "We don't have school tomorrow. It's some staff-conference-day-thing-or-other." Again, he proceeded down the hall, nearing the exit. "You obviously want to see him, so stop making excuses."

Naruto stood there momentarily, before hurrying to Kankurou's side. "Is it really obvious?"

Kankurou glanced at him in amusement. "Extremely."

Naruto's hand fidgeted at his side, and he could feel embarrassment setting in. "I just want him to understand that I'm here for him, that I'm his friend."

"Good luck," was all Kankurou said.

ooo

Naruto didn't know they would be taking a motorbike to Gaara's house. It just so happened that he had a horrendous fear of the things, and even the sight of one could send him into self-induced, paralytic shock. He had once seen a movie (at far too young an age) where one of the characters had been in an accident while on a motorcycle. The entire film was rather gruesome, but nothing stuck in the blond's mind like the mangled body of the character (minus a few limbs), which the camera was sure to zoom in on. After that, he swore he would never ride one.

He could feel his body break out into a cold sweat as he walked closer and closer to the death-trap. He could almost hear the bike speak, its scary voice saying, "Sit here and die!"

"Can we walk?" Naruto spoke up, voice a little squeaky.

"Walk?" Kankurou said in confusion. "But why?"

And so Naruto explained his phobia born of ignorant youth, and while he had expected compassion, all he got were Kankurou's fits of laughter. Everyone laughed at him when he told that story. Why did everyone have to laugh? It wasn't funny. And when Kankurou obviously wasn't going to divert his path, Naruto tried to divert his own, but the taller blond grabbed him by the upper arm and dragged him all the way to the bike. Naruto thrashed and kicked the whole way, trying to grasp onto anything (trees, fire hydrants, people) for leverage, but the senior's strength triumphed every time.

"Face your fears," Kankurou suggested, wrestling Naruto into the back seat. It was a whole new adventure to get Naruto to stay there, and, in the end, he was basically tied in place with a seatbelt. With a small smirk, Kankurou gave him his helmet. That didn't stop Naruto from repeating "We're all gonna die" the entire way home. By the time the large house finally came into view, Naruto had resigned himself to death, hanging to one side of the motorcycle.

"I hate you," Naruto muttered lifelessly, once he was finally free of the vehicle. When Kankurou unknotted the seatbelt, the younger blond toppled onto the cement in a bizarre pool, and with a weary release of breath, Kankurou righted him.

"You'd better love me, Uzumaki," he said with a shake of his head. "I've brought you to Gaara. That's the extent of my abilities…now the rest—," he flashed a thumbs-up and seemed to sparkle in the afternoon light, "—is up to you."

Naruto deadpanned as the other boy pulled the helmet from his head and placed it on his own. "Where are you going? What about dinner?"

Kankurou just grinned, and Naruto decided he didn't like his smiles. They were sneaky. "Whoever said I was going to join you? I'm a college-bound student, kouhai." Stepping over his motorbike, he slid down the screen and started up the sputtering engine. "The door's unlocked; food's in the kitchen; Gaara's in there somewhere."

"But—"

"_College-bound_, kouhai," the other blond emphasized, revving his engine. "I have to go." Pulling on a pair of gloves, he wiggled a finger in the air. "Be nice or else."

Naruto glared, feeling insulted and confused. "Or else what?"

A chuckle echoed inside the black helmet. "Or else I'll take you for another ride. See ya later, Uzumaki-kun." In a flourish of dust and smoke, he sped away, leaving Naruto to choke on the fumes. When he had successfully cleared his airways, he turned cautiously toward the house. Its size intimidated him, but what intimidated him more was the fact that somewhere within its walls was Gaara. This house saw and dealt with Gaara daily, so how was it still standing? Shaking away his absurd thoughts, he crossed the grass and stood quietly at the front door, but once his hand touched the doorknob, he found he could not move.

Did Gaara know he was coming? Probably not, as Kankurou had seemed to suggest the idea arbitrarily. And what if the redhead flipped out on him—went psycho? He imagined himself walking in and setting off booby traps, possibly being decapitated. If not that, then Kankurou would probably strap him to motorcycle and purposefully crash it. If not that, then maybe the house might spontaneously kill him. Were houses alive? Could anyone _really_ be sure that they weren't? Somewhere in the middle of the madness, his reasoning set in, telling him (as always) how stupid and utterly impractical his thoughts were. Quickly turning the knob, he jumped in, ducking into a tumbling roll just in case there were motion lasers.

In the end, he ended up feeling ridiculous as he lay in the fetal position right inside Gaara's house. Outside, someone drove by and backed up slowly, peering out there window to see what exactly Naruto was doing before driving off quickly. Clearing his throat and standing, a flash of movement caused him to pull out a finger-gun. As luck would have it, Gaara stood only a few feet away.

"You break enterings now?" the red-haired student asked, crossing his arms and leaning to one side.

Naruto was still in slight shock, dropping his fake weapon and swinging his arms by his side. "I—the lasers," he said, kind of shrugging and laughing at the same time. Gaara just stared at him.

"…The lasers." It was a cross between a question and a restatement to be sure he had heard correctly. "How did you get in?"

Naruto clinked his teeth together oddly, finding words difficult to form in an understandable manner. Where was his resolute speech? Why did seeing Gaara make thoughts so troublesome to manifest?

"Kankurou let me in…kind of," he settled with, pointing behind him as well.

Gaara looked beyond him for a moment before again matching his gaze. It was captivating, and Naruto really couldn't bring himself to break it or look away or even close his eyes. Somewhere he was sure that he liked this mini battle of wills. In an odd way, it helped to connect them.

"Kankurou?" the red-haired teen stated, looking more suspicious by the moment, and increasingly more annoyed. "Well, the door is behind you, Uzumaki. If you leave now, I'll try and forget that little acrobatic display you just put on."

"Leave? And you actually _saw_ that? But—"

"I don't want to talk to you," Gaara said bluntly. "I don't want to see you. Was there something about what I said yesterday that was unclear?"

"Well, no, but—"

"Then good evening," he quickly cut him off. "I trust that you have at least enough sense to be able to find your way out." Uncrossing his arms, Gaara turned and proceeded up the grand staircase behind him, disappearing into one of the rooms that were out of Naruto's sight.

Naruto was close to kicking a wall or overturning a rug in a strange demonstration of immaturity when his cell-phone started buzzing. In a child-like huff, he pulled it out and saw that he had a new text message from an unlisted number, but downloaded it anyway. At this point, a virus might do him some good. It would only reinforce the fact that Naruto's life was bound to always be horrendous.

/_I'm guessing that he's already told you to leave and stomped off. Don't let him get away. Search everywhere if you have to. Peace, Kankurou_./

How in the world did _Kankurou_ have his number? Was it posted publicly somewhere? Putting away his cell, he threw caution to the wind and advanced up the stairs. With each step, he could feel himself walking closer and closer into some unknown danger. Maybe all the booby traps were on the second floor. Coming to the top of the steps, Naruto was met with an eerie darkness. It was quiet, and all of the doors were closed, shutting out all light, shutting out everything. Taking a deep breath, he tried to guesstimate which room Gaara had gone into, but it was impossible to tell; there were simply too many. One door was locked, another empty, and yet another was merely a storage closet. He was beginning to wonder if anyone even lived there, fifteen minutes already gone by, when he saw the crack of light at the end of the hall. The door was open slightly, spilling a fine sliver of golden light into the hall, like an arrow telling him he was going the wrong way. There was also a strange humming sound that was oddly familiar but difficult to place. Flattening his hand against the door, Naruto swallowed hard and swung it open.

The room was a stark white, blindingly so, as warm vapors poured into the hall. A bathroom. Gaara stared in dulled shock, obviously too caught off-guard to even care about masking his emotions. Naruto stared in full-blown shock, jaw slack and eyes wide, travelling down the other's body. Gaara had obviously just stepped out of the shower. And he was naked. Somewhere along the line, Gaara turned off the shower. Somewhere else along the line, Naruto bolted across the hall and down the steps, slapping his cheeks and cursing himself the whole way.

"Idiot, idiot, idiot," he repeated, seating himself on the front step of the house. Why couldn't he be blind? His cell-phone went off again, and Naruto jumped, pulling it to his ear.

"Naruto?" Sasuke's voice said on the other line.

"I saw his _thing_!" Naruto declared helplessly, shuffling into a strange, compacted mass.

"What?"

"Gaara," Naruto laughed out nervously, closing his phone and standing. Said redhead stood in the doorway, towel around his waist and mouth set in a firm line. What was a towel between them, anyway? Naruto had already seen everything.

"Grow up, Uzumaki," Gaara said angrily, still trying to cover up his displeasure. With a particularly nasty glare, he withdrew into the house and slammed the door.

It took Naruto a few moments to realize that he had left his book-bag inside. Of course. And what was he doing? He was acting like a fool. Gaara was right. Gaara was always right. He _was_ an idiot. He was immature. He had seen naked, male bodies before. It was bound to happen one way or another. Still, it was _Gaara's_ naked body. Why did that somehow complicate the situation?

Knocking on the door, it was several minutes later when Gaara finally opened it, glare still settled neatly across his features. He was fully clothed, Naruto's bag hanging from his outstretched hand.

Naruto regarded him carefully. "Thank you…" He knew the moment he took his book-bag, Gaara would close the door, so he stood there for a moment, trying to buy himself some time.

"I'll drop it in five seconds," Gaara said none-too-nicely, defensive nature not letting up.

Naruto took a step toward him. "But can't we talk—"

Before he could even finish his question, Gaara let the bag drop to the ground with a heavy _thud_—the kind that killed mechanical-pencil lead—and was gone behind another slamming door. Naruto stood there for a few seconds, staring at the furnished oak, before testing his luck once more. He didn't care anymore, and he realized that it was a wonderfully liberating feeling. Who needed reason anyway? Turning the handle, he was happy to find it still unlocked and walked right back inside the house. Gaara had made it only a few feet away, but his look of perturbed amazement was priceless when their eyes met again. The air seemed to crackle with a delightful electricity.

_You've got some nerve_, the red-haired boy's eyes seemed to say, and Naruto wondered if it was what Kankurou had mentioned briefly earlier. He spoke without speaking. It was extraordinary.

"We have to talk, Gaara," Naruto declared, voice taking on an element of fortitude.

"No, we don't," Gaara replied, clearly indicating that he wanted to close the conversation. "It hasn't been a week. It's barely been a day. You're trying my patience."

"Good. It needs to be tried," Naruto challenged back. "You told me to fix things with my friends." He sighed and shrugged his shoulders limply. "You're my friend, Gaara. What do I have to do to fix this?"

"We're not friends," the redhead said flatly. "Friendship is consensual, and I do not consent."

"Why not?"

"You're an idiot."

Naruto was getting frustrated again. "That can't be your reasoning for everything."

Gaara's eyes seemed to smirk somewhat. _Oh yes it can,_ they said. "Do you honestly think I can believe anything you say? I just want to be your tutor." He seemed to regret his words, adding, "And not even that was my choice." He was angry again. "Why do you insist on making things difficult? Have you ever heard of boundaries? Other people have them, believe it or not."

Those were the most words Naruto had ever heard him consecutively say. The mask was fading away, Gaara no longer able to carefully regulate his emotions as he always did. His true nature was beginning to peek through. It was about time.

"You have _too_ many boundaries, Gaara," the blond said somewhat sadly. "No one will be able to get through if you keep this up."

"Good."

Naruto watched as he turned to leave, heading again for the staircase. "Where are you going to run? This is your own home."

Gaara actually stopped, body jerking in anger as he turned to face him. "Run?" After studying him for a moment, he took a few steps toward Naruto, leaving two-or-so feet between them. His bearing was suddenly alive with a mix of anger, frustration, and puzzlement, and Naruto wasn't sure that he didn't rather like him like this. "Why am _I_ the one running? I'm doing you a favor. Stop assuming you need to help me. I get so tired of your counterfeit concern—like I'm some kind of charity-work. It's infuriating." In a whirl of conflicting emotions, he turned to stomp off, but Naruto caught him by the wrist. Again, he was jolted to a stop, but he refused to turn toward Naruto this time, eyes locking instead to the floor.

Naruto felt insulted, but at the same time, he felt that he understood Gaara's feelings. The world was full of cruel people, and Gaara had probably faced his fair share. The small arm in his grasp suddenly seemed very delicate, and Naruto was afraid to hold onto it too tightly or for too long.

He was tiny. He had a tiny wrist. He was frail. But he was strong.

"Stop it," Naruto found himself saying, though his voice was not at all threatening. "…We both need to just stop this." He took a step forward, coming up behind him, and Gaara tried to pull his hand free.

"Let me go," he said monotonously, slowly reconstructing his composure.

"No."

"_No_?" Gaara repeated crossly, eyes flashing a dangerous turquoise as he turned to face the blond, but any other rebuttal was lost when Naruto pulled him into his arms.

Neither of them said anything. Both couldn't really think of anything to say. Gaara looked like he wanted to struggle but didn't. Perhaps he thought it was above him or beneath him or however the saying went. All Naruto knew were that his arms were _around_ him, pulling the red-haired boy tightly into his embrace. His flushed cheek pressed tightly to the side of Naruto's neck, hiding whatever emotions might have been readable on his face. He smelled clean and fresh, hair still damp from his shower that suddenly seemed to have taken place ages ago. They were so close that Naruto could've sworn he felt Gaara's heartbeat. Most of all, he felt his own beating at an increased pace, and he was afraid that Gaara would feel it, too. His body lacked the soft curves of a female. But still, he _fit_. It was exhilarating, and it was calming, and it was scary all at the same time.

"I want us to be friends," Naruto said at last, voice penetrating the silence. Gaara finally seemed to try and fight whatever was happening, but Naruto only pulled him closer. "What will it take for you to believe me?"

There was another span of silence, until Gaara seemed to give in, arms hanging limply at his sides and a tired exhalation of breath playing across Naruto's throat.

"You're a bag hugger," Naruto laughed, not wanting to let him go. He wanted to say that it was because he liked to see Gaara annoyed, but his thoughts seemed to say that it was because of something else entirely. What was that _something else_, exactly? Naruto wanted to know, but he felt that he would be taking a big risk in trying to find out. Still, he really wanted to know.

"We're losing study time, Uzumaki," Gaara finally said, annoyance and irritation substantially lessened.

Naruto pulled back, holding Gaara by his shoulders. "Call me 'Naruto'," he said with an endearing smile, even tilting his head slightly.

Gaara stared at him for a moment, face extremely difficult to read, before he stepped out of Naruto's arms. "No," he replied, though not as staunchly as he was apt to, picking up his own bag and leaving it up for the blond to follow him. Naruto felt slightly disappointed, but he couldn't seem to stop himself from smiling. Something in his mind was going off again. What was it trying to tell him? Disregarding these conflicting feelings, Naruto pulled his bag over his shoulder and proceeded after him. There was a slight bounce in his step.

At least, for now, he had made some progress.

oooTBCooo

"aneki": respectable term for an older sister  
cram-school: places where students go (usually in the later portion of the evenings) to study for college entrance exams. College can be extremely competitive and difficult to get into in Japan.

I'm done saying anything, because obviously I'm full of shameless lies. This chapter was supposed to come out next week, but I chose to fail at life and finish it instead. Additionally, this isn't my favorite chapter, though I love it a lot. Favorite so far, shall we say. And it's long, to be sure. Better chapters are definitely in the making though (particularly the next one, which you should enjoy), as things are finally starting to happen. Yey :D I want to say the next chapter won't be out for at least two weeks, but don't believe anything I say. I can't believe how fast this story is being written. I seriously have to buckle down and do some papers, though (like...five T.T). All I ask for is compassion.

EDIT (6/2/08): I have serious issues with the next chapter. It's not the content, nor is it mistakes or errors, but it's simply the awkwardness of progression. Knowing this, you can either still read it, or stop here and wait for probably a long time for me to fix it (I'm being honest here, or maybe I'll fix it this weekend). But if you read it, you may not want to continue reading the story. There's just something wrong with the chapter's placement. It's out of place? It's weird. But you may like it. I'm just saying... Now you know. Chapter 8 does attempt to make up for it, and Chapter 9 is definitely back on track, but I'm done saying the same thing in fifty different ways. So thank you :D


	8. Far Too Close for Comfort

**Chapter 8:** Far Too Close For Comfort

Jeans. Blue-jeans and a t-shirt. A dark-green, long-sleeved t-shirt with complementary jade-green converse shoes. Naruto had never seen Gaara out of uniform before, and the clothes suited him quite well. Almost _too _well.

"You're not listening, Uzumaki," Gaara said suddenly, pausing in his reading to scowl at the blond.

Naruto cleared his throat and pretended to have been reading along the entire time. "Yes, I am." Following their strained encounter in the foyer, Gaara had led Naruto to a lavish study where they had proceeded to work. But Naruto was having a hard time paying attention. Again. Which usually got him into trouble.

Gaara tapped his fingers on the desk and closed his book. "What did I just say?" he asked, voice tinted in such a way that he communicated rather clearly that he knew Naruto was not listening.

Naruto smiled. "You just said, 'What did I just say'," he replied smartly, but Gaara was not amused. In fact, he only seemed to grow even more irritated.

"Impossible," Gaara said in a disgruntled manner. "You are impossible." He shook his head and looked away, as if he had given up on some futile battle. "You work so hard to get me to tutor you, and then you don't even pay attention. What is the point?"

Naruto frowned, sad that Gaara had not gotten the point. Not the_ right_ one, anyway. "I didn't work hard to get you to tutor me."

Gaara looked carefully at him, clearly confused, but in his own, angry manner. "You didn't?" He always used just enough inflection to turn certain phrases into questions.

"Well, no," Naruto crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair and looking as if he was attempting to make an important point. "I worked hard to get to know you better, to earn your friendship."

Gaara was clearly angered as he stood and glanced away, any other way that would allow him to keep his emotions in check. "You'll never earn it, Uzumaki. Get that into your head right now, if nothing else." Turning to walk across the room, he was slightly surprised to find Naruto by his side. Close.

"How much is it?" the blond asked, smug smile tilting his lip. Gaara only stared at him blankly. "Your friendship," he clarified, smile widening. "Since you seem to be implying that it's on the expensive side, I'd better start saving up now."

Gaara felt a strange tremor go through him, a foreign shudder passing through his body. He didn't like it. He didn't like it one bit, because he was starting to feel that strange, uncontrollable curiosity that had driven him to do something stupid in the past. Naruto's newfound confidence left him frustratingly incorrigible, and if he was difficult to deal with before, he was impossible to confront now. Did he think that one embrace would magically mend everything between them, immediately forging some intimate bond? He was out of his mind if he believed that. And if he ever tried such nonsense again, Gaara would give him a piece of his mind. Human contact was disconcerting. And Gaara certainly did not _hug_ people. He didn't hug his brother. He couldn't remember ever hugging his father. The one time Gaara had ever performed an action even remotely similar to an embrace was when Temari had placed her arm across his shoulders to congratulate him on some school award. Even then, his obvious displeasure at the gesture had caused her to laugh and make some comment to the effect that she would never try such a move again. He just didn't like to be close to people. It made him nervous. It unsettled him. Probably the most unsettling thing about the whole ordeal with Naruto was that the hug hadn't felt as unsettling as Gaara had presumed it would. Why that was, he did not want to know.

"Well?" Naruto spoke up, placing a hand on Gaara's shoulder.

Gaara immediately shook his shoulder free, taking a step back. He was getting angry again. Why did Naruto infuriate him so? Gaara didn't want to feel anything—anger included—so it was starting to become a problem when the blond could elicit such emotions within him so effortlessly. A sentence, a touch, a _word_…that was all it took. Even with Kankurou, it required a little more effort.

"Please try and refrain from touching me," he stated levelly. "It's annoying."

Naruto stepped back, propping his hands on his hips and shaking his head. "Personality, Gaara. Personality." Looking around the small study, he noticed the blank walls, naked and bare without adornment of any sort. Naked. Gaara's body manifested unwillingly in his mind, and Naruto flinched and tapped his forehead lightly, as if to tap out the random thoughts.

Critically, Gaara looked at him, finding his actions suspicious, if anything. "What are you thinking?"

Clutching his hands behind his back, Naruto's efforts to make himself not appear suspicious only made him seem that much guiltier. "Not about you, if that's what you're thinking."

Gaara could only blink. "I wasn't, but that's good to know."

"Ah…Positivity," Naruto said with astonishment. "I didn't know you had it in you."

"You don't know very much, do you?" questioned Gaara, walking away before Naruto had a chance to respond.

Standing in the wake of yet another well-aimed insult, Naruto could only follow Gaara's retreating back with an amused smirk, before catching up with him. "Compliments are more attractive, Gaara," he explained, as they perused about the main floor of the house.

"To who, Uzumaki?" Gaara inquired, stopping momentarily to face him in annoyance. "To _you_? If that's the case, then I'll certainly never ever do such a thing. But I thank you for the warning."

Though his face was blank, Gaara's teal eyes were alight with a kind of sarcasm. Naruto was sure that the redhead wanted him to show displeasure, so he challenged him back with a cavalier grin. "You're very welcome, Mr. Frown."

There was a strange moment that passed between them then—a kind of welcomed silence in which an odd form of allure spurred forth in their midst. Naruto tried to analyze just what about the moment seemed out of place, before realizing rather disturbingly that their exchange seemed awfully…flirtatious. The witty exchanges, the hidden meanings…everything about their conversations was starting to feel reminiscent of the everyday discussions that evoked a kind of chemistry between two people, an inconspicuous bond. What was the most disturbing, if they were, in fact…flirting, was the fact that it wasn't very disturbing at all. It was actually kind of nice. Even Gaara had to wonder what in the world they were doing, because this unnatural behavior that only manifested itself around Naruto was starting to seem all too natural.

They both broke out of the strange, daze-like moment at the same, looking in opposite directions and shuffling unconsciously.

"Dinner," Naruto said, shattering the heavy silence, and even Gaara couldn't deny that he was grateful for the interruption to whatever he might have started thinking. Even his thoughts threatened to start taking a strange turn.

"If you want to leave, feel free," Gaara offered.

Exasperated, Naruto grasped Gaara's shoulders, looking at him with a dubious, but kind expression. "Wrong…What you _should_ say is, 'Would you care to stay for dinner?'"

"Touching," Gaara warned, and Naruto begrudgingly removed his hands. "And I don't live in your imaginary world. I'm under the impression that you think I do."

Naruto arched a brow. "You're right about that," he said in agreement. "In my world, we're great friends."

"Keep dreaming."

"Maybe I will…Sometimes dreams come true." Naruto nearly slapped himself at the abnormally corny line that had just spilled from his mouth.

Gaara merely wanted to escape the living-nightmare with blond hair and blue eyes that stood in front of him. "I'm not going to change, Uzumaki," he finally said tiredly. "Ever. Let that be the second piece of information you retain."

The blond tilted his head slightly, looking at Gaara in puzzlement. "I don't want you to change," he said assertively. "I like you just the way you are."

Gaara's eyes narrowed as he fought the urge to withdraw into himself. He felt nervous and unsure of himself, and, like a cat when it is scared or frightened, he felt his defensive nature arising, confusion of feelings giving way to irritation. Irritation was simple. Whatever it was that passed between them every so often and was difficult to characterize was exactly that—difficult. School was easy. Gaara didn't mind school. People were another matter entirely. People came with feelings, and emotions, and all the other things that made life difficult…Sad.

"Aren't you leaving?" Gaara asked, crossing his arms and looking away again.

"I just got here," Naruto pointed out. It had been a good forty minutes, but still... "And besides," he faked a strange mix of hesitance and regret, "I'd hate to break it to you, but Kankurou invited me to dinner."

Gaara appeared doubtful, but retained the better portion of his calm. "Would you like his address so you can go and meet up with him?"

Naruto watched him for a moment, taking in the willful nature of the boy before him. "He actually invited me _here _tonight. Would you like to call him and confirm?" With a self-satisfied smile, he even pulled out his phone and extended it toward the red-haired boy.

Gaara could have slapped him. Thank goodness, the better part of his judgment activated, and he quelled such irrational (however tempting) notions. "Luckily for me, Kankurou is the only one with cooking abilities in this household…Sorry to disappoint you." He wasn't sorry at all. In fact, he was rather relieved that this opportunity to finally get Naruto to leave had arisen. He could at least thank Kankurou for that.

Naruto bowed his head slightly, as if he was admiring Gaara's words like a well-planned chess move. And then he grinned. "Luckily for you, I fancy myself an adequate chef." Shrugging just a tad, his triumphant attitude was anything but subtle. "Sorry to disappoint you."

Gaara almost did slap him then. Naruto was as infuriating as Kankurou—even more so—which was quite a feat, considering Gaara never imagined in all of his seventeen years that he would ever find anyone as unbearable as his brother. Defeat was imminent, and as much as Gaara didn't like to, and certainly would never willingly admit it, he was feeling tired again, and in such a state, he didn't feel up to bickering with anyone, as ironically stimulating as it could be. "Do what you want," he answered indifferently. "The kitchen is this way."

Naruto followed him as he wove throughout the house. During the short interlude, he became increasingly aware that there really were no embellishments in the house. Aside from the elaborate light fixtures and the mediocre furnishings such as carpets and drapes, the house seemed oddly incomplete. There were no pictures, not even a small one featuring the entire family, and as Naruto thought about this, he started realizing that Gaara's house held a kind of similarity to his own. It was empty. The kitchen was spacious and well-furnished, with appliances that were fairly new, if not the latest models. Again, though, it felt vacant.

"I don't really know where anything is," Gaara spoke up, "since Kankurou usually takes care of this, but feel free to have at it."

Naruto glanced at him, before looking around the room again. "Why does Kankurou cook? Isn't that weird?"

"Why would it be?"

"Well—what about your mom? And your dad?" He regretted asking, because questions of these sorts were dangerously presumptuous. He knew because people often asked him these very same questions. He knew, but he asked anyway. It made no sense, because he hated people to ask him such things, so there was an underlying hypercriticism to his words. He reasoned that seeing as he had been asked so many times, perhaps it was the normal and congenial thing to do. His formative years were spent, for the most part, in solitude, and so Naruto was more than aware that he lacked certain necessary social skills that could only be developed through interaction with others. Fortunately, he was exceptionally good at pretending he was like everyone else.

Looking back at Gaara, Naruto noticed that the other student had visibly stiffened, hands clenching at his sides. The blond knew that reaction, but surely it couldn't be so…Though, it might make a lot of things make sense.

"My parents are none of your concern," said Gaara after a moment, bland reverie restored. "Though I hate to say it, please limit your prying inquiries to myself." He took a seat at the kitchen table, pulling a book from the seat of one of the vacant chairs, and proceeded to read.

"You're right," Naruto said distractedly, turning toward the sink to wash his hands. Gaara lifted his eyes to his back as the blond discharged some soap onto his fingers and scrubbed them under the running water. "I shouldn't be so nosy."

Drooping. Was Gaara seeing things, or were Naruto's broad shoulders actually drooping? Admonishing himself for even caring about such things, he turned back to his reading.

"What do you want to eat?" Naruto called over his shoulder, turning off the sink and shaking his hands dry. "I'll make whatever you want."

The increasing number of similarities between Naruto and Kankurou were almost mind-boggling. Aside from that, they were enough to aggravate Gaara even more than his meddlesome queries. "I'm not hungry," he stated flatly.

"Well—too bad," Naruto replied, turning back to the counter, where he started opening cabinets and drawers in order to get a feel for the place. "I'll make you eat if I have to. Food equals energy, which equals a healthy, happy Gaara."

Gaara felt himself cringe as Naruto's sing-song voice carried back to him. He didn't know about healthy, but he knew that happiness was one emotion he was born strictly without. Or perhaps he had felt it at one time, one moment…with one person, but that time had been short—naïve, and did nothing to make up for the years of _un_happiness that had followed it.

"I'm _not_ eating," he said again, this time more strictly, but when he had expected Naruto to finally give in, the blond only turned and smiled.

"I wasn't kidding," he said jovially. "I will literally _force_ you to eat if I have to." Gaara looked at him as if to imply, _You would never_, and Naruto just smiled even more. "I'm serious, Gaara. I will wrestle you to ground if I have to, force-feeding you until the last bite. I will find some rope and tie you up, if necessary, and plug your nose until you have no choice but to swallow. I will—"

"_Fine_," Gaara ground out in obvious displeasure, ready to agree to almost anything if it would shut the blond up. "My god, you're annoying," he grumbled in dulled amazement. "Have you always been this way?"

"About as long as you've been a frowny-sad-face," Naruto laughed, turning back to the cabinets.

Frowny-sad-face. Mr. Frown. Wasn't 'Gaara' good enough? Did Naruto have to fuss up every facet of Gaara's life down to his very name? It took a moment to realize that he was, indeed, frowning, and his irritation nearly doubled. Maybe if he said nothing, then Naruto wouldn't speak to him. It seemed logical, as Gaara's curt comments only seemed to keep the blond talking, so the red-haired teen decided he would simply ignore him and read his book. With Kankurou, he could do just that, so if this tactic failed, Gaara might as well just give up and die. In fact, that option was starting to seem more and more appealing. It wasn't much longer after that that Naruto started singing a song that went something like, "A healthy Gaara is a happy Gaara," and Gaara was roughly five seconds from hauling his hard-bound book at the overly-enthusiastic blond's head.

"Seriously Gaara," Naruto turned around again, an oven mitt on one of his hands and a wooden spoon in the other. "I've seen you naked—you can't pretend that it didn't happen," he shook the spoon emphatically in the air with each word. "You are far too skinny, young man."

Slamming his book closed and gritting his teeth, Gaara was about ready to explode in anger. Instead, he took a few deep breaths, opened his book, and proceeded to read. Gaara was certainly not the one who had run away screaming like an immature child; that was for sure. Calm. Remain calm. But something wasn't right. Raising a hand to touch his cheek, Gaara was disturbed to find his skin warm, a steady heat flooding his face. He told himself it was only irritation, because _why_ in the _seven seas_ would he be _blushing_? To make matters worse, every time he tried to read, he found himself thinking about how utterly maddening Naruto was. He didn't want to think about him at all.

To his suppressed relief, Naruto didn't say anything else. He only hummed his own little tune as he proceeded to make dinner, meandering about the kitchen as if he had lived there for years. It was pretty sad that Naruto knew more about Gaara's kitchen than he himself did. The blond was slowly invading every aspect of his life with little effort and a keen smile to match. Despite of all this, Gaara felt himself nodding off, Naruto's calming song lulling him closer and closer to sleep. He had nearly collapsed onto the table, his book a makeshift pillow, when a warm presence gently lifted him out of his near-slumber. Blinking sleepily, he managed a half-glare as Naruto's curious face came into view. The other boy sat across from him, chin propped on one hand as he stared at Gaara in fascination, remnants of one of his many smiles still curving his lips, however slightly.

"What?" Gaara asked irritably, never glad to wake up, but expressly angered to find he had an audience.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, head tilting slightly and golden bangs falling into his eyes. "When people fall asleep, it's always fascinating, but with you…" Pausing, he shook his head and turned, glancing at the stove that was occupied one-fourth of the way with a lidded pot. "It'll be ready soon," he said idly, attention seemingly drawn elsewhere, before he glanced back to Gaara with concern. "Are you okay?"

"You always ask me that," responded Gaara unenthusiastically. "And I'm always fine—." His words abruptly ceased as Naruto pressed his hand to his forehead, the touch cool and almost welcome, before the redhead backed away and stood.

"I know, I know," Naruto sighed. "No touching, but I'm worried about you. You seem a little feverish; if you're tired, you can go take a nap—"

"I'm fine," Gaara said firmly, blue-green eyes visibly narrowing.

Naruto rolled his eyes and waved an oven mitt in the air. "Are you really that afraid of me touching you? You'd think I had a disease or something."

"I'm not afraid," was Gaara's indignant reply. "I just don't like touching people."

"There no difference."

"There's a huge difference."

"Whatever makes you feel better."

"Anyone else can see there's a difference."

"Prove it."

Gaara paused. "What?"

Naruto smiled. "Prove it. I'm going to touch you for a minute. If you break away before the end of sixty seconds, I win and can ask you to do anything I want. If you stay still, you can do the same. Well?"

Gaara regarded him intently for a small span of time before breaking away and grabbing his book off the table. "That's absurd."

"You're right," agreed Naruto with a nod, turning back to the stove. "If you're afraid, it's your own problem. But I guess fears are reasonable; we all have them, and—"

"Sixty seconds, Uzumaki," Gaara cut him off in annoyance. Walking around the table, he stood a good foot or so away from Naruto, mouth set in a line and face dull as usual. "Let's just get this stupid game over with."

Naruto turned with a triumphant grin, rubbing his hands together and judging where to touch the other student. Where exactly would it annoy him the most—where would be an assured win? There were so many choices, some reasonable, many not, and he finally settled his hands on the area of the most borderline neutrality: Gaara's waist. Neither above nor below, in-between, a median of sorts, slender, warm, small—like a girl's—_wait._ Disregarding his thoughts, or at least trying his best to do so, Naruto looked from his hands on the green material of Gaara's shirt to Gaara's face. Gaara's _blank_ face. And then Naruto realized that maybe this was not the smartest of challenges, because Gaara seemed perfectly in control, but it was Naruto who was starting to feel a little…odd. It was difficult to describe, but there was this weird, tingling sensation in his fingers, and a prickly feeling in his arms. What should have ended with his upper extremities seemed to travel even further, and suddenly his heart was thudding again, the sound almost in his ears as he scolded himself for thinking of such a stupid, _stupid_ idea. Gaara was right yet again. This was absurd. This was _extremely_ absurd, but what was the most absurd was the fact that Naruto was sure his face had inched closer to Gaara's. It was a small difference, but their faces were only inches apart—Close. Close enough to kiss. Close enough to… Naruto's brain was shutting down, relevant thoughts dissipating as the subconscious urge to lean forward took hold. And why would that be wrong again?

A jingling sound echoed off somewhere, before a voice called out, "I'm home," causing both Naruto and Gaara to jump a little. Naruto wanted to say something, but his thoughts weren't ready to start functioning normally yet. Gaara just looked at Naruto blankly, wondering what exactly had just transpired, before convincing himself it was nothing and refusing to dwell on it. When Kankurou strolled in, sporting an energetic aura, it took the other two a few more seconds, partnered with Kankurou's increasing expression of total astonishment, to realize that Naruto's hands were still resting precisely on Gaara's waist. Immediately, Naruto's hands sprung behind his back where they _belonged _and should have _stayed _and wouldn't do such stupid, absurd, brainless, _backfiring_ stunts again. He envied Gaara's more subtle (lack of) reaction in which he stepped away from Naruto and walked past his brother as if nothing had happened.

"Aniki," he greeted dully, before disappearing into the hall.

Kankurou's eyes followed him until they focused back on Naruto, a dangerous glint in the grayish irises.

Naruto tried to smile, but an image of his body tied to a crashing motorcycle did little to quell his building fear. "Kankurou," he welcomed as well, raising a shaking hand in an attempt at a wave.

"You," the other blond said in an angry sort of disbelief, before charging up to him and making his whole three-fourth's-of-a-head-taller height painfully known. "Were you just making a move on my brother?"

Naruto blinked. "No…" Shaking his head, he could feel the urge to laugh hysterically. "_No_; for heaven's sake, no."

Kankurou glared and arched a brow, taking in the underclassman's words. "What do you mean by _that_?" He raised his hands as if preaching at a podium, face edged with Gaara-like annoyance. "Is my brother not good enough for you? Is such a thought _really_ that disturbing? Heaven's no, you say? Well, might I remind you that it was _your_ hands on _his_ waist, kouhai. I could have you sued for sexual harassment. I could have you put away for years for reckless endangerment. With the kind of power I harness at my disposal, I could provide a lifetime's worth of little 'accidents'—," here he made exaggerated air-quotes, "Enough so that you'll be wishing you _were _in heaven…You get me?"

Naruto just stared at him, convinced he would pass out at any moment, and he probably would have taken a seat had not Gaara intervened.

"Aniki," he said, reappearing in the doorway with a new book. He was clearly irritated. "Stop pestering him."

In an instant, Kankurou's temperament morphed and he was grinning and slapping Naruto playfully on the arm. "I know; I just love to mess with this little guy. It's so easy."

Gaara couldn't disagree, but he refused to agree, either. "He started dinner. There might be enough for you."

Scratching his head, Kankurou walked the short distance to the oven and glanced in the bubbling pot. "Doubtful," he said after a moment. "I'll whip something up else up to complement it, and we should be fine…You okay, Naruto?"

Unmoved from where Kankurou had put the fear of the gods into him, Naruto just swallowed and took a seat at the table. "Yeah."

"Yeah right," chuckled the senior, crossing his arms over his chest. "If that little tidbit was enough to frighten you, how are you ever going to gather the gall to make a move on my brother?" Naruto blanked at him again. "You know I'm right."

"_Aniki_," Gaara nearly growled, and Kankurou backed off with a smile.

"Yes, yes, of course," he said congenially. "He's just too easy _not_ to play with. One almost can't help but like him." Opening up a cupboard, he pulled out a glass jar of some kind of spicy, reddish paste, attempting to twist off the lid, before giving up rather quickly and handing it to Gaara. "You know the drill," he said cryptically. Gaara took the jar and, to Naruto's confusion, popped the lid off with ease before wordlessly handing it back to him.

"You mean to tell me," Naruto began, squinting inconspicuously at Kankurou, "that you could probably kill an elephant with your fists…but you can't open a jar of bean paste?"

It took Kankurou a little longer to exhibit his usual grin, but he smiled and tossed the open jar between his hands. "I have a bad grip."

Naruto's brow furrowed in his blatant skepticism. "A bad grip—"

"Studying, Uzumaki," Gaara interceded, pulling out a chair beside him. Sliding the red-bound book before the blond, his only instructions were "Start reading." Grumbling, Naruto took the book in his hands and began to read. Gaara looked from him to his brother, who was staring into space, and when the older boy noticed his younger brother's stare, Kankurou smiled at him sadly. Gaara looked away.

With a small exhalation of breath, Kankurou turned back to the range, sliding open a bottom-drawer and pulling an apron on. Naruto liked to pride himself on the fact that he could drown out almost any external stimulus when reading, but the dancing blob of pink in his peripheral was far too extreme to ignore. Glancing upward, he was not as surprised as he should have been to see Kankurou in a pink apron. A _frilly_ pink apron. His wayward chuckle caught the older blond's attention.

"What?" Kankurou inquired, spinning around and sending ruffles and bows fluttering about. "_Oh,_" he said when he saw Naruto covering his mouth, unsuccessfully masking his laughter which still spilled out precariously from the sides. "You like my apron? Just because_ I'm_ secure in my sexuality…" he started, purposefully trailing off.

"What are you implying?" Naruto asked defensively. "I'm secure in my sexuality…too…" Why on earth had he trailed off as well? Instead of working to his advantage, like Kankurou had artfully accomplished, it only made him seem that much more insecure. "You're just like Sasuke," he finally muttered, red-bound book long forgotten.

Kankurou faked a curtsey, the image both amusing and disturbing. It would take Naruto a long time to forget such a thing. "I wouldn't mind meeting this 'Sasuke'," he said with a smug grin.

Naruto leaned on the table, considering the upperclassman's words. "You two would probably get along." Another subtle movement from Kankurou sent another dramatic wave of ruffles and bows flying here and there and seemingly everywhere. "He doesn't wear pink aprons, though," Naruto added, suspiciously eyeing the material.

Lifting a skillet into the air, Kankurou shook the pan, sending the mixture of sizzling contents every which way as he turned toward the seated pair. "Believe it or not," he started, sending a rain of vegetables into the air with a simple flick of his wrist, "Gaara made it."

Naruto seemed to choke on air, before retaining his pseudo-composure. It wasn't so unbelievable that Gaara had made the apron—on the contrary, it was rather impressive, but the fact that Gaara had made a pink…_frilly_ apron…for _Kankurou_…_Killer_-Kankurou…Naruto looked from the apron to Gaara—who was ignoring the ongoing exchange by way of a book—before looking back at the apron, and finally to Gaara again. This time, Gaara was glaring at him.

"What are you thinking, Uzumaki?" he questioned uncompanionably. "It was originally for my sister."

And Naruto was looking back at Kankurou again in a critical manner.

"What?" the senior asked innocently. "I like cute things."

Suspicion still present, Naruto slowly looked away from him and back down at his book. He wondered where their sister was, the one the apron was truly intended for, but he was hesitant to ask. Kankurou watched him with a smile, shutting off the oven and setting the table with plates.

"Sis has been away at an all-girl's college for the past two years," he freely conversed, setting chopsticks and napkins and things of that sort around the table. "She's our breadwinner," he commented in a lighthearted manner, bringing the skillet over to the table. "She's scary as hell, but that mind of hers…it's sharp. My only fear is that she'll never marry, feeling herself superior to the male populace—the _human_ populace."

As he dished out the food, Naruto tried to ascertain how such a trio of siblings could have been born into the world. When he could find no logical answer, he decided that he would simply be glad that they were, because as odd as they all seemed, they added a fun element to his life, an invigorating joy that had not been there before. As they ate, Kankurou took every chance he could to poke fun at Naruto, and Naruto, of course, fed right into his plot and quibbled back. Gaara's look of mild irritation seemed permanent as he asked them several times to "just shut up and eat". The two blond-haired boys would always wince at the reprimands, before one of them (usually Kankurou) would say something that would set the other (usually Naruto) off on another defensive spree. Kankurou even told an apathetic Gaara about Naruto's "exhibitionistic theatrics" on the motorcycle, and Naruto's renewed attempts to defend his diminishing dignity were lost amidst Kankurou's bouts of laughter. Gaara just rubbed his temple and finally explained (to Naruto's blatant horror) how he had even rolled into the house "James Bond style," and Kankurou's laughter rolled on. They were an odd pair of brothers, but in their own way, they seemed to get along quite well.

When nine o'clock came around, none of them had realized it had gotten that late, and Naruto pulled out his phone to call Sasuke for a ride home. Kankurou had started washing dishes, insisting that Naruto accompany Gaara, who had somehow disappeared undetected. Walking out into the main hall, he glanced at the ornate staircase at the far end of the corridor, before a wavering flicker caught his attention. Naruto stepped across the hall, surprised to see the large, lit fireplace that occupied the open chamber before him. Gaara sat in the plush, burgundy couch, his arm across the back of it as if to support someone else. If Naruto squinted, he could picture it. He could see a small girl in the space beside him—someone like the shy girl of their class, Hinata—but he knew this vision was incorrect. It didn't take much more effort, but if Naruto tried hard enough, he could picture another guy there. That was how it was supposed to be. Not Gaara with a girl, and certainly not Gaara with Naruto. Because Naruto liked girls. Only girls. He only felt the urge to _kiss_ Gaara (as if that was supposed to comfort him), and that was only stress-induced. Or was Sasuke right in declaring that that was only the answer Naruto _wanted_ to hear?

The conflicting thoughts threatened to overcome him, and Naruto finally gave up and walked into the room, but Gaara never once looked up.

"Uzumaki," he breathed out resignedly, eyes still drawn toward the seemingly-dancing flames. Naruto put his hands in his pockets and came to stand in front of the couch, looking uncertainly at the open space. "Sit if you would like. I'm too tired to squabble with you now."

Leaning gratefully into the welcoming cushions, Naruto sighed and absorbed the comfortable heat of the fire. "You finally admitted it," he said with a small grin, glancing momentarily at Gaara. The light flickered rather nicely on his face, illuminating his pale skin and causing his turquoise eyes to adopt a glowing quality. He really was attractive. Naruto looked away.

"It _is_ nighttime, Uzumaki," Gaara answered, but neither worried about the fact that such a comment was relatively delayed. It had seemed like a long day, far longer than the few hours it had really been, but, more than that, it had been an eventful day.

"You should go to bed, get some rest," suggested Naruto, feeling a yawn pulling at him by the mere mentioning of sleep.

"I still have work to do."

Naruto's eyebrows rose in disbelief. "You're telling me that we don't even have school tomorrow, and you won't even let yourself take a nap?"

Gaara felt that age-old irritation bubbling up within him again. "That's exactly what I'm telling you."

Naruto shrugged, finding the beauty of the fire enrapturing. "While some might call that impressive, I call it stubborn."

"This is why I don't base my life on your opinions."

"At least lean on me for a little while—until Sasuke comes," Naruto offered, turning toward Gaara again. "You can't keep pushing yourself like this. It isn't safe."

Gaara faced him, eyes revealing nothing but dissatisfaction. "I'm not leaning on you, Uzumaki."

"Come on," Naruto teased, wrapping his arm around Gaara's waist. "Don't be so modest."

Gaara looked at Naruto's hand, and then into the blond's blue eyes. "_Modest_?" he asked in an insulted tone, annoyance slowly unfolding on his face.

Naruto smiled at him and turned back toward the fireplace. "Yep."

Sitting still for a couple of moments, Gaara finally asked, "Are you going to let go of me?" It was clear that he was troubled, and how could Naruto forget the redhead's dislike of touching? That alone gave him a small enjoyment.

"Not until I'm confident that you're asleep," he answered, tugging Gaara closer.

"…You're annoying," Gaara muttered, clearly frustrated as he struggled to keep his emotions in check.

"Well, then I'm doing my job as a friend, as Sasuke would say." Shifting his right arm around Gaara's shoulders, he gently pressed it to the right side of Gaara's face, fingers delving into his copper hair as Naruto pulled the other boy to his chest. "Now close your eyes."

It was with great effort that Gaara did not lash out at him. Violently. He did not like to be forced into any position of any sort, and while it was usually never as literal as the current situation had become, Gaara still felt that cornered-animal defense kicking in. More than that, however, he felt a more overriding part of himself that found comfort in the situation, a reverse-psychology kind of reaction in which maybe all Gaara wanted all along was for someone to come along who _wasn't_ afraid of him, who didn't take him seriously. But even if this was true, Gaara refused to accept that that person would be Naruto. Why did the possibility disturb him so? Gaara was at least glad for the provisional heat of the wispy flames, because he also refused to accept that his cheeks were warming on their own again. He really was so very tired…he _had_ pushed himself too hard. And Naruto's chest and shoulder were much more comfortable than he had credited them to be, the steady rise and fall of the blond's chest lulling him gradually toward sleep. It wasn't long before he had closed his eyes.

"See?" Naruto spoke up, rubbing Gaara's arm. "It's not so…bad." Peering a little into Gaara's face, it was not difficult to discern that he was asleep. A soft _whish_ of breath escaped his lips every few seconds as his body slumped against Naruto's. But that was more than fine with him. He felt inexplicably content watching the red-haired boy's sleeping face, and with a sigh of satisfaction, he leaned back into the couch, fingers toying with a few copper locks, before gently stroking the copper strands. He watched the curling threads of heat as they coiled about the brick, confined to the limited space by the stone that surrounded them. It wasn't long before his eyes drifted closed as well, head nodding until he finally succumbed to sleep, resting his cheek on the top of Gaara's head.

Not long after that, Kankurou walked in, drying his hands on a towel. He advanced inward, confused at the mass in front of the fire, before finally making sense of the montage of limbs on the couch. He didn't even realize he was smiling until his cheeks started aching a bit. "Would you look at that…"

And not much later, when Sasuke finally arrived, letting himself in as Naruto had instructed, he, too, was drawn toward the room of flickering light. He walked in, the sight before him substantially easier to understand.

"They're cute, aren't they?" Kankurou asked, coming into the room behind him and leaning on the doorframe.

"They're something," Sasuke agreed, face unreadable as he regarded the unusual pair on the couch. "…I just haven't figured out what that 'something' is yet."

Kankurou only smirked. "That's half the fun."

oooTBCooo

Hm. I don't know how I feel about this (late T.T, but long :3) chapter. Moving out pushed me back a day. Please tell me what you thought about this fluff-tastic tidbit, because I don't know what to think. This story won't be ending any time soon, either. I fear how much has yet to come. What I can say is I'm fairly sure there will be a kiss in one of the next two installments. Would that make you happy? I know I certainly would be, because these two are driving me crazy. Cheers!

EDIT (5/5/08 Cinco de Mayo, baby!): I changed some things around in this chapter. Nothing major at ALL, but I rewrote some parts very slightly, changed some adjectives, took out some sentences, things of that nature. This chapter was weirding me out, yo. I don't know why.


	9. Wake Up Call

**Chapter 9**: Wake-Up Call

"_I wish it had been you instead of her."_

Naruto was pulled roughly from sleep as a sharp pain shot through his back, a sudden shock to his system bringing him to dulled awareness. It took him a moment to realize where he was, one arm hanging off the couch and bent painfully on the floor, the other palm-down on the cushions above his head. He blinked sleepily around the room, a strange warmth passing steadily through his body even though the fire had burnt itself out or been put out—Naruto couldn't be sure which. What he _was_ sure of was that he had spent the night at Gaara's house, the light creeping in from the small windows near the ceiling a sure sign of morning.

He went to push himself up, but a pressure was suddenly exerted on his back, and that familiar pain helped him the rest of the way to wakefulness. It took him another moment to realize that there was someone underneath of him, and only a few more moments to realize that that someone was Gaara. With a look of unseen confusion, Naruto went through the events of the previous day until he was reminded of its conclusion on the couch. It appeared that neither of them had gotten up after that, and that both of them had moved around quite a bit in their sleep. Gaara's face was practically plastered to Naruto's collarbone and neck, brick-red strands spilling forth over Naruto's shoulder. Naruto wasn't sure how Gaara was able to sleep in such a way, because the blond's body was splayed rather uncomfortably across the smaller teen.

Gaara mumbled something incoherent, and Naruto jumped, not because it had scared him, but because the sensation of lips on his skin, of _Gaara's_ lips on his skin, was not something he had expected to feel. The pressure and pain on Naruto's back increased, and he was finally able to discern that it was Gaara's hands that were the cause. They had slipped past his navy vest—past his shirt—scraping up Naruto's bare skin and clenching as if in pain. A nightmare. Gaara must have been having a nightmare. Shifting his face inward, Gaara's grip loosened and his peaceful sleep returned. Naruto wasn't sure whether to wake him or leave him, but with the way things were, every time Naruto moved, Gaara gripped onto him for dear life, but Naruto could not stay there. He couldn't. Aside from Gaara's hands on his back and warm breath on the blond's neck, Gaara's legs seemed tangled with Naruto's. Very tangled. Naruto shifted a bit to relieve a creak in his shoulder, but it only took a fraction of a second to realize why movement was a bad idea.

They were almost cemented at the waist, lower halves pressed together as a result of their jumbled limbs. Gaara shifted again, rather substantially this time, and Naruto pressed a hand to his mouth to subdue whatever might have spilled from it as a result. He tried to reason it out. He was a boy. Boys have sensitive areas. When these areas are…Gods above, he was making things worse. They were just in such a provocative position…And Gaara was moving again, palms sliding over Naruto's back as broken, muffled sentences spilled from his mouth, transferring softly against the blond's collarbone. He would have to wake him. Naruto would have to awaken Gaara or he wasn't sure what might happen.

Bracing his arms on either side of Gaara's face, he gently lifted himself upward, slowly disengaging himself from the boy beneath him. Gaara's arms tightened momentarily, but loosened as Naruto carefully uncoupled their bodies. When they were almost completely separated, Gaara mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "Neji" before falling silent once again. It was weird, because Naruto looked at Gaara for a long time after that, the smaller boy's arms still clasped behind the other's back as he continued to sleep, and he was sure that he didn't like hearing such a name from Gaara's lips. He just didn't know why. Taking hold of Gaara's arms, he carefully pulled them from his shirt, and just as he had carefully placed them over the red-haired student's chest, Gaara woke up.

"Good morning," Naruto greeted, enthusiasm lacking from sleep. He was also tingling again, though not in his arms this time.

Sitting up, Gaara rubbed his face, before glancing at his watch. "I have a lot of work to do," he said monotonously, standing and leaving both the room and Naruto.

It was weird, because Naruto felt like he had taken five steps forward, and fifty enormous steps backward. He seemed like the Gaara that Naruto didn't know, the Gaara from before—cold, detached, and separated Gaara. But why?

"I was waiting for this," a voice echoed into the room as he flipped a switch, flooding the room with light.

"Kankurou," Naruto acknowledged, the voice now easy to recognize. "Waiting for what?" he turned toward him.

"He always returns to himself in the end. Gaara never lets himself be changed for very long. Though I'll admit, he's never been so open for so long as he was last night…" Kankurou stared at the floor, arms crossed, as he seemed to recollect the memory. "Thank you for that, Naruto."

Raising a brow, Naruto tried to figure out how Gaara's attitude from the previous day could be characterized as "open". "You're welcome, I guess. It's clear that I only annoy him, though."

"Maybe," the senior shrugged. "Maybe not." Perusing aimlessly about the room, the Kankurou before Naruto in that moment looked so drastically different from the one of the previous day. "When we were little, I used to purposefully keep him up and make him tired. When he's tired, he lets his guard down just a little. But then I think he figured it out, and he hated me for it." Stopping in front of the younger student, the older blond regarded him with a strange mix of warning and sadness. "Just be careful, Naruto."

Naruto frowned at him. "Kankurou…"

Shaking his head, Kankurou's genuine smile returned. "Kankurou-_sempai_, kid. You really don't listen, do you? I feel bad for my brother."

"But we're friends, right?" questioned Naruto, unfazed even before Kankurou's larger stature.

"Friends?" Kankurou could only stare at him, looking almost as if he had never heard such a question before, like he didn't understand what it meant.

"Well, yeah," Naruto replied with a nod. "You even called me 'Naruto' yesterday. I just assumed that somewhere along the way we became friends."

Kankurou went over his words, an uncharacteristically dark look falling over his face, before his smile took over once again. "Sure; I guess we're friends." Tousling Naruto's hair with an open palm, he turned and started to leave. "Just be aware that I don't understand 'friendship', so I'm liable to screw it up."

Naruto followed after him, face twisting in confusion. "How can someone not understand friendship?"

Kankurou smiled back at him, the indescribably dark aura looming about his face. With a sinister tint to his voice, he answered, "I don't have any friends."

The way in which he said it, the manner in which his smile seemed to reveal a darker part of him—it made Naruto stop in his tracks. Kankurou's characteristic chuckle carried back as always, but it, too, seemed ominous. Naruto finally laughed it off and caught up with him, shaking his head. "Yeah, right." It seemed impossible that Kankurou wouldn't have friends. Despite his threatening bearing, he was one of the most instantaneously-likeable people Naruto had ever met. But Kankurou didn't say anything else about it after that.

ooo

"Where's Gaara?" Naruto asked, taking a seat at the kitchen table as Kankurou started making breakfast. He had offered to do so, and Naruto complied. He was still a little tired, his mind digesting all the happenings of the previous day, as well as the interesting little start to the current day. Interesting. That was one word for it.

"I'm almost positive that he's locked himself in his room," Kankurou replied, looking from a random jar of food and then to Naruto before putting the jar back and pulling ingredients from the fridge instead. "He's accepting reality, kiddo."

"Accepting…" Sighing, Naruto rubbed his head, leaning his other arm lazily across the table. "But we're in reality."

"Are we?" Kankurou asked, holding his chin in some odd impersonation of a philosopher. "That's debatable."

"But right here, right now, that's real—isn't it?" Naruto was starting to get confused. What should have been a succinct conversation was turning into deep, theoretical pondering.

"What he means," Sasuke said, walking into the kitchen and taking a seat across from his friend, "is that this small reality is arguably fake compared with the larger reality of the world. And good morning, Naruto."

"Yes, good morning, but—," he froze, doing a double-take on Sasuke's blasé demeanor. "Wait a—Sasuke, what are you doing here?"

"He spent the night," Kankurou answered for him.

"You, too?" With a lingering look of surprise, Naruto could only shake his head. "What a weird night."

"I can only imagine," Sasuke mused, folding his hands on the table. "First you call me, crying about seeing someone's thing, and the next, I find you cuddled up with Gaara on the couch. My surprise was immediate…to say the least."

"We were not cuddling," Naruto spat out childishly.

"You saw my brother's _thing _?" asked Kankurou, spinning around in revulsion. "Just what did you two do yesterday? Honestly, I walk in and you're practically about to make out with him—"

"I was _not _going to make out with him," Naruto defended, wishing there was some place to hide his face, his body, his _existence_ if it would shelter him from this embarrassment. "It was a game."

"A make-out game?"

Naruto gave Kankurou an evil eye and Sasuke covered his mouth as if he was about to start laughing. "Everyone's a comic today."

"You're the funniest of all," Kankurou declared, rudely pointing a pair of chopsticks at Naruto from across the kitchen. "Especially if you think things are going to change after one day."

Naruto was going to spout off some kind of rebuff, but Sasuke nodded in agreement. "He's right, Naruto. Maybe something did happen between you two yesterday. That's great. But that's not the real world. It's not just you and Gaara. It's you and Gaara—and everyone else. Gaara understands that. Just make sure you do as well."

Sasuke was always perfect at expressing and highlighting upon the bleak realism of things. On this particular day, it seemed to be extra-bleak, but Naruto was still able to find the truth in his words.

"You're right," he agreed sullenly, "but your pragmatic diagnosis is depressing."

"Depressing but true," Kankurou said in a pleased voice that seemed out of place with what he was saying. "I happen to love pragmatic diagnoses. Why distort the truth with pretty words?"

"My thoughts exactly," Sasuke looked at Naruto as if to communicate, _I told you so._ He said, "Well put, Kankurou."

"Thanks, Sasuke," Kankurou smiled.

Naruto stared at the two, an unvoiced question in his thoughts. "How come Sasuke can call you 'Kankurou', but I have to call you 'sempai'?" Both of them looked at him as if the answer was obvious.

"Sasuke's cute; that's why," Kankurou simply answered, patting Sasuke on the head. He had uttered the assertion like he might state any well-known fact, but definitely not like anyone else when they said that Sasuke was cute. It was another one of those strange, unforgettable sights. What made it particularly strange was that Sasuke just sat there and took the gesture in stride, as if nothing of the sort had even transpired.

Naruto was starting to develop some strange thoughts on the matter when Kankurou's cell-phone went off, and the senior blinked and pulled it from his pocket. "It's my girlfriend; please excuse me," he said courteously. Putting it to his ear, he had barely uttered a charming, "Hello, darling," before he was out of the room, voice muffled by a distant, slamming door.

Sasuke glanced at his retreating back before turning slowly toward Naruto, a veiled look in his ebony gaze. "Sleep well?"

Naruto regarded him intently. "I did." Reflexively, he felt his face heat up, but he refused to believe that Sasuke could see it. It was a mind trick of sorts…If he convinced himself that it couldn't be seen, then he would start to believe it. He was a master of cognitive dissonance. So then why, despite his efforts to suppress his thoughts, was a familiar warmth passing over his body again? Naruto released an awkward cough.

The dark-haired student seemed to be smiling with his eyes—just a little bit like Gaara, in his own way. "Good."

"I just don't get," Naruto affirmed suddenly and in a frustrated manner. "Why do I feel like I'm getting nowhere? I've done everything you told me, Sasuke. We got along—at least _I_ thought we did yesterday, and today he won't talk to me. I haven't given up, but I haven't gotten anywhere."

"Do you really believe that?" Sasuke asked, arching a black brow. "This pessimistic person before me is a stark contrast to the Naruto I know."

"Then maybe you don't know me."

Sasuke looked at him quickly, no doubt surprised, and an ounce of worry took over his face. "Naruto—"

Naruto's adopted his usual smile, the brightness of his expression cutting off Sasuke's words. "I'm just kidding. You might be the only one who knows anything about me at all." He stood, slowly ambling around the kitchen table aimlessly, like Kankurou had earlier in the fireplace chamber. "I like this house," he said after a few moments, glancing around at the surroundings.

"Stop pretending," Sasuke said semi-disinterestedly. He seemed to manifest a morning paper out of nowhere, splaying it open with a quick flick of his hands and immediately starting to read. "You hate this house."

Naruto stopped abruptly, resting his hand on one of the counters. "_Hate_? What makes you think that?"

"It's just like your house." While Sasuke's eyes continued to scan the columns of printed texts before him, his words were most assuredly directed at the blond.

Naruto looked like he wanted to laugh. "My house is nothing like this house, Sasuke."

"Stop pretending," was all Sasuke said in return.

Naruto hated the word "pretend". He hated it because it surrounded his entire existence, ironically holding it together, keeping the unsteady pieces in place. "Don't, Sasuke," he said soberly. _Stop pretending._ The phrase echoed through his thoughts, like an old memory tossed up when one blows off dust. He could remember it spoken at another time, with a slightly different voice, to a variably different version of himself. Sasuke looked at him over the top of the newspaper, an unreadable expression gracing his features as he watched his old friend break out into his normal smile. "Don't."

Kankurou walked back into the kitchen, staring fondly at his phone and shaking his head in disbelief. "I could marry this girl," he mumbled contently, a warm air about him that was different from the exuberant aura he was akin to adopt. This one seemed more genuine, more real, and very much like the manner he assumed when discussing his younger brother.

"Aren't you a little young to be discussing marriage?" Naruto inquired, looking skeptically at the older boy.

"Love knows no age, distance," pushing his phone into his pocket, Kankurou turned to toward his addresser with a grin, "…or gender. Wouldn't you agree?"

Naruto looked at him as if to ask, _What are you saying_?, at about the same time Gaara came in, looking solely at Naruto and clearly implying, _What are you still doing here?_ Kankurou wordlessly held out a cup of coffee, which Gaara took from his hands before disappearing into the hall once again. The whole charade ended up turning out rather awkward for Naruto, who had had a million things planned to say, but only ended up holding an index finger quite curiously in the air.

Sasuke could only look at him. "Marvelous, Naruto."

Pouring another cup and placing it before Sasuke, Kankurou stared at Naruto with a critical expression. "What is he pointing at?"

Resting his head on the table, Naruto's head hit the wood a little harder than he had anticipated. A dull ache seemed to spread throughout his skull, rattling his brain with small, jarring waves. "Are we leaving now, Sasuke?"

Sasuke flipped to the next page of the paper with only his thumb. "I thought you said you hadn't given up."

"I'm not giving up," Naruto said quickly, dragging his head painfully upward to look at his friend. "I'm just—"

"—Giving up," Sasuke interceded, glancing over a page. "It's okay, Naruto. I understand."

"Why do you always do that?" the blond asked, glaring at him a little and sitting upward. "Why do you always, _always_ do that?"

The innocent look that flashed across Sasuke's face was a clear indication of his dishonesty. "Do what?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, like when we first met—oh, never mind," he appeared to swat the topic away with one hand. "My life is over, so it doesn't matter anyway."

"Melodramatic as ever."

Naruto shot him and irritated look and declined the offer of coffee Kankurou put forth. "You two are something else," the senior mused with entertained conduct. "It's like you've known one another for a long time."

"Almost a _life_time," Sasuke corrected, his voice communing that it had been long enough to grate on his nerves.

"Well, that's nice," Kankurou continued. "It's good that you two have been able to maintain such an incorruptible relationship for so long."

As Kankurou finished his sentence, it increasingly dawned on Naruto how strangely worded and downright morose the elder boy's statement had been. And then he realized that Kankurou had always been like that, smiling and putting up a kind of front, while his real self was only revealed in carefully constructed comments that usually fell on deaf ears. Naruto used to do that all the time—making people wonder, causing people to question the foxy grin, do a double-take—at least until Sasuke came along and ruined all his fun.

"_Stop pretending."_

"Haven't _you _ever had an incorruptible relationship, Kankurou?" Naruto asked. It was another one of those dangerously presumptuous questions, but surely the other boy had experienced at least _one_.

Taking a sip of coffee, Kankurou looked over the rim of his mug and into some long-past memory. "Never."

Naruto blinked, unsure of what to say, because while Kankurou didn't look angry about the question, he seemed to be straining to maintain his carefree attitude. "_Never_?" Sasuke looked at Naruto, saying nothing explicitly, but implicitly seeming to tell him to stop. "I mean, what about the girl? The one you said you could marry?"

Sloshing the near-black liquid around in his cup, Kankurou looked at the younger student as if to suggest that he didn't know anything, nothing about the _real_ world, anyway. It was very unsettling, but Naruto challenged him back with a defiant look of his own. Just who was Kankurou, really? What kind of person hadn't had at least one steady relationship—platonic or other—and joked about having no friends?

"Me," Naruto said, suddenly standing up and disregarding his earlier questions.

Kankurou tilted his head. "You?"

Sasuke recognized the look of determination in Naruto's features, the look of swearing silently to never back down once he had decided upon something. "You can build a relationship with me…an incorruptible one."

Smiling a small fraction, Kankurou only said, "You're funny, Naruto." His eyes said, _Stop pretending_. He really was a lot like Gaara. "You say the funniest things with such seriousness. You almost make me want to believe you."

"I _am_ serious."

"_Stop pretending."_

Angrily, Naruto left the room. It was an impolite thing to do, considering it wasn't his house and Kankurou hadn't done anything overtly wrong, but he was just upset. He was starting to think about the past again, and the past only troubled him.

"You shouldn't mess with him like that," Sasuke said when he was gone, eyes still travelling over a newspaper page.

Kankurou took another sip of coffee. "I've done a lot of things that I shouldn't have done."

"Haven't we all?" Sasuke questioned, finally looking at him over the paper.

Kankurou's smile was both sinister and sad. "…Not the things I've done."

ooo

Naruto hadn't made it very far, but it was far enough. He stood at the foot of the grand staircase, eyes tracing the elaborate structure as it twisted magnificently upward. It was beautiful in its own way, the wood spiraling up, up, up as it disappeared into a dark heaven above, blackness enveloping the rest of the construction. Gaara was up there somewhere, his life going on, no doubt, unaffected by any of his dealings with Naruto, and it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair because Naruto couldn't get him off his mind. Gaara was like an elaborate staircase in Naruto's world—it was unique, interesting, nice to look at…but it didn't belong. But Naruto still wanted it there.

A voice in the back of his mind seemed to be trying to tell him something again. Something that he didn't want to hear.

"Do you like it?"

Turning slightly, Naruto acknowledged Kankurou's presence for a brief moment before facing the stairs again. There was no longer any trace of bale or menace in Kankurou's eyes, a small smile on his face offering both surrender and repentance at the same time.

"It's nice," Naruto said quietly, voice still magnified by the large walls. "It's…"

"Out of place," Kankurou intervened, touching the bottom rail before drawing his hand back, as if being in contact with it too long could hurt him. "Our dad—our _father_ built it last year. Though he'll never admit it, Gaara holds it very dear. The rest of the house was supposed to be renovated as well…_Oh_ well, I guess," he chuckled a bit.

"Hey, Kankurou?" Naruto spoke up, eyes falling on the bottom step. "…Sempai," he added, finally remembering Kankurou's preferred title, but the senior only laughed more.

"You can just call me 'Kankurou'. Okay, kouhai?" For the second time that day, the older boy ruffled Naruto's locks. "Our friendship starts now…but only because I trust you."

"You trust me?"

"I trust you. Take care of Gaara," he said, mirroring Kakashi's words. "He won't let me—doesn't want me to anymore. But maybe he'll let you."

Naruto comprehended his words, determination wavering unsteadily within him. "I don't know…"

"Then never mind," Kankurou said suddenly, crossing his arms. "That's not what I want to hear. You have to be serious, Naruto. You have to be sure. There can't be any doubt in your heart at all. Only then will I give you my brother." While Kankurou's words were stern, there was still a trace of kindness in his eyes. Of hope. "I know Gaara is difficult. Trust me—I know. And he's a rollercoaster of emotions that can shift in an instant, while his true feelings may never be known. But he's also a human being. He's been hurt before, Naruto." He shrugged a little, swallowing as if he was ignoring a lump in his throat. "He's been hurt a lot. I suppose he's just tired…of everything, everyone, and he's had enough experience to know when and where to harden his heart." Pausing and placing a hand over his eyes, Kankurou appeared to recollect himself, taking a deep breath and moving that same hand to Naruto's shoulder. "You have to be patient, too."

Naruto looked at him but couldn't say anything, but he couldn't be sure whether it was due to the sudden urge to cry that he felt, or the fact that words weren't really necessary. Kankurou just watched him with a small, knowing smile, as if he knew what was going on in his mind—as if he understood. "Come on, you crazy kid," he finally stated lightheartedly, slapping Naruto on the back. Proceeding up the stairs, Naruto silently followed, but the other teen's attempts to improve his mood made little progress. The shorter blond recognized the route they traced as they took a right at the top of the stairs, following the hallway all the way to the end, but this time the door at the end of the corridor was dark, no light spilling forth beneath it. Turning the ornate handle, the lavish bathroom lit up automatically, and Kankurou shoved Naruto gently inside. "Take a shower. Start your day off fresh and clean. Oh—." Disappearing for a short moment, he had returned a moment later with a small stack of clothes. "—Here. Gaara's too small, so you can wear some of my clothes." His smile held a hidden agenda. "Just return them sometime."

Naruto bowed his head. "Thank you, Kankurou."

"And cheer yourself up," Kankurou cuffed him on the arm. "You're depressing me. As a matter of fact, just be yourself—," he grabbed the doorknob, "—I'll see you." And then he closed it.

ooo

Naruto emerged from the bathroom renewed and refreshed. The shower had been wonderful, the warm water a rare treat he wasn't able to indulge frequently in at home, and it had given him time to think. He had thought a lot. He was resolved.

Carrying his uniform in hand, he walked across the upstairs-hallway, approaching the stairwell, when a door to his right suddenly opened. Naruto paused in place as Gaara emerged from the room, ceasing movement as well as soon as he had spotted the other boy. The redhead's hand was braced on the doorway, a mild look of irritation just barely livening up his face. Gaara was clearly waiting for Naruto to say something, something that would upset him, the very sight of the blond seemingly enough to annoy him. But he did not look away. Naruto mused that he had an unwavering strength that was certainly to be admired.

"Bye," the blond said concisely, smiling a little before progressing down the steps.

Gaara stood in place, hand still braced on the door, as he digested the short interaction. Very slowly, he walked over to the rail and looked over, watching with an unreadable gaze as Naruto said something undecipherable to Sasuke, and they both left the house.

"Naruto's a good kid," Kankurou said, appearing to manifest out of the darkness of the hall.

"What are you doing?" Gaara inquired, hands closing on the banister.

"Standing here—talking to you."

"You know what I mean, Aniki." Though he addressed him, Gaara did not face Kankurou. This was how it always was—how it was supposed to be. "Why did you invite him here?...What are you trying to do?"

"Since when did you start caring about my actions?" Kankurou asked with a grin. "They're gone now. You can go back to hating me, and I'll go back dealing with it." Gaara looked at him, clearly taking offense to his words, but Kankurou only took a step away from him, hands raised. There was something wrong about the way he said it this time, though. This was not the typical, _I forfeit_. This was something else. Something that should have been over and done. Gone. It had scared Gaara before.

"_Why am I alive?"_

"I'd better get out of your hair," said Kankurou after a small length of time. Walking backwards, he neared dangerously close to the stairs. Close to the edge. Still smiling, he turned and started down them.

"Kankurou," Gaara said, suddenly motivated to say it, stripping the name of formalities and title, calling him as he really was. Kankurou actually stopped, abruptly so, as he looked up at his brother by the railing. But Gaara didn't say anything else. He just looked at his older brother, a strange trepidation in his eyes. It was his own restrained way of showing concern.

"Don't worry," Kankurou told him, smiling as he continued down the steps. His assuring voice that echoed upward said, "I won't be reckless."

Outside, the sun was barred from shining as the numerous clouds crowded the sky. It was darker than it had ever been.

ooo

"You've been acting weird lately," Sasuke observed, watching Naruto, who was currently glancing between a book and a piece of paper, feverishly scribbling in both every so often.

"Have I?" the blond asked, not bothering to look up. He wrote something else down.

"Yeah—Naruto, where's your lunch? You've been doing this for a week now."

And indeed he had. It had been precisely a week since the day at Gaara's house, and since said day, Naruto had done nothing but read and write during lunchtime. And class-time, in which he had—oddly enough—not skipped once and paid diligent attention. And even during bus-time. It was weird.

"No time, no time," Naruto said when he had finished a sentence. "I have to study hard, Sasuke," he looked up and him and smiled. "Jeez, do you want me to fail?"

Sasuke narrowed his dark eyes. "Have you been going to tutoring?"

"What do you take me for?" Naruto chided lightly. "Of course I have." And he was writing again.

"Then what have you done?" The dark-haired student crossed his arms, determined to get it out of him one way or another. He didn't (always) like to see Naruto upset, but the blond's exceedingly happy attitude was starting to get a little more than annoying.

Naruto merely continued writing, not at all intimidated by him. "You're thinking too much Sasuke," he said cheerfully. "I'm innocent."

"Then what are you trying _not_ to do, Naruto?" The vehement scrawling stopped, pencil lead snapping and shooting off into some innocent-bystander's soup. So Sasuke had finally figured it out; his small half-smile was a clear indication.

"What are you talking about, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, smiling and shaking his head, and then proceeding to start erasing everything he had written. It was clearly a painful thing for him to do, but it was the _only_ thing for him to occupy himself with now that his lead had betrayed him by means of drowning.

"What I'm talking about," Sasuke began, snatching the pencil from his hand in one liquid motion—a move which Naruto had barely even seen him execute, "…is you suddenly taking such a keen interest in your studies."

Naruto drummed his hands on the table, fingers playing across the surface as if it held piano keys. "Is that really so unbelievable?" he finally inquired, angry to be interrupted from his work, and angry that Sasuke was bent on analyzing him. "I'm insulted, now can I have my pencil back—"

"No," Sasuke flatly answered. "Not until you tell me what's going on."

"Nothing is going on," Naruto said in a reassuring manner, reaching across the table to reclaim his pencil. Sasuke glared and held it out of reach. "I'm going to tutoring; I'm paying attention in class; I'm nonconsensual friends with Gaara…I'm doing my work, Sasuke. What more do you want?"

"What more do _you_ want?"

Naruto was slightly taken aback. "What?"

"I don't have a problem with your actions, Naruto. But I _do_ have a problem when your actions are used to cover up something else. And you're not avoiding Gaara, so I can't quite point my finger on what the problem is this time…At least, I _couldn't_," he arched a brow, "until the other day," Naruto's countenance visibly became wary. "…The other day when I saw you and Gaara together after school—"

"We were studying—"

"You were studying, yes," Sasuke said, interrupting his interruption. "But you never once looked at Gaara."

"I was studying hard."

"For an hour? I thought that might be the case as well, until I watched you for the past few days and noticed that, while you greeted him normally in class, sitting next to him as usual and waving in the hall, you don't ever look at him. Isn't that a little weird?"

Naruto looked at the wall clock and stood, shrugging and attempting to gather his school materials. "I actually have this meeting right now—"

"Sit _down_," the black-haired student said chillingly, causing Naruto to drop back into his seat.

"Can't you see that I'm trying to prove myself to Gaara?" Naruto asked, pulling out a piece of paper and crumpling it out of sheer need to have something to do.

"I can't see that, because how can you prove yourself to someone if you won't even acknowledge their presence?" Naruto looked down at the table, playing with his paper-ball before Sasuke took it from his hands and tossed it over his shoulder. "Look at me, Naruto, because I can't help you if you shut me out, too."

Naruto hesitantly raised his face to look at Sasuke, a pensive look in his cerulean eyes. "It's just…" he began slowly, supporting his words with random hand motions, "everytime…and then—the whole "blam" thing…Plus, consent, can you believe—I just—_any_time…I'm such an idiot, you know?"

Sasuke was staring at him strangely. "…No."

Naruto exhaled tiredly as if his friend should have clearly been able to understand what he had just said. "Okay then…Picture this—," he held his hands out, palms facing each other as if he was holding a box. "This is me," he jiggled his right hand. "This is Gaara," he said, wiggling his left. "This is the problem…" Extending both hands closer to Sasuke, he slowly moved his right hand closer to his left. "See?"

Sasuke watched it all and nodded knowingly. "You want to pray?"

Dropping his hands onto the table in his frustration, Naruto tried not to get too upset. "Sasuke…do I _really_ have to say it?"

"Seems that way. I have yet to decode your sign-language."

Running his hands through his hair, Naruto looked at the student across from him with a cross between apprehension and doubt. "You won't think any differently of me?"

"I won't think any _less_ of you," was Sasuke's brief reply.

Naruto stared at him for a good sixty seconds more before throwing his hands up and sitting up straight in his chair. "Okay. There are times when…" he started to raise his hands in demonstration—

"Hand motions," Sasuke cut him off.

Wincing, Naruto rested his hands in his lap. "There are certain times…I can't control it—it just happens—I never know when, why, how—"

"Rambling," Sasuke cut him off again, resting his chin on his hands.

Clearing his throat, Naruto tried again. "There are just these moments where…" he looked from Sasuke's patient gaze to the wood of the table, then back to Sasuke's face again. "I think I want to kiss Gaara," he settled with, feeling his face heat up with a blush.

Sasuke stared at him for a long time, and it was with great self-influence that Naruto didn't try to gut himself with the other boy's plastic knife. "Do you mean that there are moments when you want to kiss him, or you just know that you want to kiss him, period?"

"_Think_ I want to," Naruto quickly clarified. "And maybe a mix of both. I mean, I know it's weird—"

"Why is it weird?" Sasuke casually asked, and Naruto wanted to say something like, "Oh right, because everyone has the urge to kiss antisocial boys", but he decided against it.

He settled with, "Haven't I already explained this? Isn't it obvious?" He made some strange gesture that clearly put across the fact that Sasuke must have been out of the loop of life.

"Actually, it's _not _obvious, Naruto," Sasuke replied, black eyes stern. "And don't you give me any of that _he's a boy, I'm a boy_ B.S., because you know you're just avoiding the real issue."

"The real issue," Naruto repeated, clearly confused at his words. "What on earth on you talking about?"

"I'm not going to baby you on everything, Naruto. You'll have to figure this one out on your own."

"You're not at all worried or put off at anything I've said?" Naruto asked in disbelief, and maybe a bit of anger, too. Had Sasuke been listening at _all_? "I just told you I wanted to kiss a boy."

"Then do it."

Somehow tripping in his seat, Naruto coughed and resumed his former posture. "Excuse me?"

"Then kiss him," Sasuke clarified, looking far too calm for someone instructing a straight boy to kiss another boy. "Kiss Gaara, because I frankly don't see what the problem is. You kissed Sakura once."

"Um, hello? She slapped me, Sasuke."

"So? It was enough for you to know you liked her. Just kiss Gaara and get it over with," sitting back, he crossed his arms. "Or, you can proceed with your little makeshift solution that you've got going on, but either way, do _something_. I'm tired of hand motions."

"But Sasuke—"

"Don't do it, Naruto," Sasuke cut him off again. "Don't give me any excuses, because I'm giving you the option of ignoring him if it will make you feel better. But…" Sitting back up, the glint of warning in his eyes was clearer than ever. "If you continue to suppress your conflicted feelings and emotions, you might find that it's only a matter of time before you,—" he pulled Naruto's pencil from seemingly nowhere, snapping it rather loudly in half, "—break."

Naruto watched in an odd form of shock as the halves of his pencil dropped to the table and rolled around the surface until finally settling in front of him. "You're a dangerous man, Mr. Uchiha," he finally said, standing and gathering his things together. "I haven't forgotten who told me to put a certain little letter in a certain little _someone's_ locker. Uh-huh, yeah…" He shoved his pencil pieces in one of his pockets. "Just slip the poem in his locker and he'll never know, he says," Naruto mumbled as if Sasuke wasn't there, "Just kiss Gaara…Yep. He makes it sound _so_ easy…" Shaking his head at his friend, Naruto looked at him with skepticism fully displayed. "It's not that easy, Sasuke."

Sasuke looked at him and raised a fine eyebrow, a smile in his dark orbs. "I think you'll find that it's easier than you think."

oooTBCooo

This chapter was a prelude to both humor and seriousness. It also throws in some cryptic elements of the past. I liked it. Not much NaruGaa, but there's always the next chapter. I started writing it, and it's already making me happy. If you're still reading this story, it's a miracle of sorts, because it's frustrating me as of late. But I'm glad you're reading it. Much love, and see you in a week or so :D


	10. The Kissing Initiative

**Chapter 10**: The Kissing Initiative

Meeting with Gaara, talking to him, and interacting with him was easy. Meeting with him, talking, and interacting—all without looking at him…while this was slightly more difficult to pull off at first, Naruto gradually brought himself to do it. The difficult part came in when Naruto tried to do all of this while being consciously aware of Sasuke's advice to "Just kiss Gaara". But it was not "Just kiss Gaara". It more like, "Just you _try _and kiss Gaara," because every time Naruto thought he might attempt the outlandish advice, he found it was not as easy as Sasuke had surmised. And how was he supposed to go about it, anyway? Should he just do it at some random moment, without warning, or should he ask first? But asking Gaara for a kiss did not seem very realistic. At all. So Naruto continued going to tutoring sessions, thinking occasionally, "Hm, I might kiss him now," and much more often, "I am never, _ever _going to kiss Gaara."

And it would have gone well, had not Gaara started looking at him strangely after roughly the third day of the blond's strange behavior.

"What are you doing?" he asked, when Naruto had stopped working and was staring at him intently. And Naruto thought, now it was his chance, now he could ask, now—

"Nothing," he harmlessly replied, going back to his work. But the damage had been done. Naruto had not looked at Gaara directly for at least two weeks. And Gaara didn't look any different. The problem was that he looked the same. _Exactly _the same. _Attractively _the same…but in a purely platonic way. Boys could recognize and appreciate other boys' looks, right? Besides, girls did it all the time.

Gaara continued to watch him, placing his pencil on the table and narrowing his cool gaze. "Nothing?"

"Platonic," Naruto blurted out before he could think.

Gaara blinked. "…Platonic."

Naruto looked up at him and grinned. "Yeah…our relationship is…platonic." He pointed toward his book. "It's a new English word I came across. Doesn't it mean something like, 'pure' or 'non-romantic'?"

"It means 'free from sensual desire'," Gaara said emotionlessly, glancing indifferently at his own book. "'Companionable', 'nonsexual', or 'nonphysical'."

"Right…Nonphysical," Naruto repeated, cursing himself inside for his tourette's-like behavior. At least he now had proof that their association was simply what it was. Simple. Companionable. Nonsexual. Non—wait. Non_physical_? Was it really nonphysical? As in no touching? As in no bodily contact? As in no Narutos lying on top of any Gaaras?

Patting his cheeks, Naruto disregarded Gaara's skeptical glance and started writing. He had to stop his thoughts. He didn't want to remember the tumultuous emotions that had gone through him when he had been so close to Gaara. And he was close to Gaara now. Of course. This was why he didn't want to think. Thinking only complicated things, and things were better when they were simple.

"We don't have to continue," Gaara said, pausing once again as he looked over at the clearly-frustrated blond. "If you have other things to do, you can leave, Uzumaki."

Naruto leaned back, regretfully placing his pencil on the table and letting out a long sigh. Sasuke was right. Gaara was right. Everyone was right. Everyone but Naruto. "It's not that." Shaking his head, he repeated once again, "It's not that at all."

"Then what is it?"

Naruto did look at Gaara then, as if he hadn't heard correctly, but Gaara's veiled eyes were unreadable as he looked back in silence. Should he do it now? They were in separate desks, but still. Just lean in—then a tentative press of the lips—and then? And then, Gaara would slap Naruto just like Sakura had, and Naruto would have to live the rest of his life as a recluse or a monk, but preferably as a recluse, because he did _not _want to have to shave his head.

"It's like this," he began, bracing his hands on the metal bar that connected a portion of Gaara's chair with his desk. Gaara immediately began to glare, but Naruto held his ground, because if he was going to actually do this, Gaara's glare was the least of his worries.

But something was wrong. Or, at least, something was not quite right. It wasn't there. It wasn't the same. Naruto was sure that he couldn't kiss Gaara like this, because, while his heart was beating rather quickly once again, he did not feel the inexplicable spark—the involuntary magnetism that had spontaneously activated during all of the other inopportune times. Now, when Naruto _wanted_ it to happen, it wasn't there, and then what would it be? It just wouldn't be right.

Releasing the metal bar, Naruto sat back in his seat. Gaara seemed to relax as well, softening his look of irritation and turning back to his book. He really was something. And yet, he was almost indescribable. But what on earth was he to Naruto? He wanted to know. He really wanted to know for sure. He was scared…but he wanted to know.

"Hey, Gaara?" Naruto spoke up, smiling apologetically as Gaara clearly put across with a subtle shift of his face that he did not like to be interrupted.

"What?" Gaara said, turning a page of his book.

Biting lightly on his lower lip, Naruto picked up his pencil and spun it between his fingers. He felt like he needed something to do. "When did you know…that you were gay?"

Even though Naruto was no longer facing him, he saw Gaara stiffen out of the corner of his eye, looking up at nothing and letting his book droop a little in his hands, before pulling his eyes back to his text.

"You're right," Naruto said quickly, hastily scrawling on his paper. "It was stupid. And nosy. And wrong of me to ask. Very wrong. I'm an idiot."

"When I kissed a boy," Gaara levelly replied, continuing to read.

Naruto looked at him again, but with a kind of amazement this time. Gaara really was a strong person. He was comfortable with himself; he seemed perfectly okay with who he was. It was qualities like these that had drawn Naruto to him from the very beginning, from the moment they had emerged from the closet together and Gaara had faced the questioning stares with an admirable kind of confidence. Naruto couldn't even face one boy, let alone the rest of the school populace. It was somewhat pathetic.

"Why don't you care what other people think?" Naruto couldn't help but ask, staring at the other critically.

Gaara turned another page, not bothering to look up. "Why _do_ you?"

With a small laugh, Naruto drew himself back to his studies. "Good question."

ooo

_Who am I?_

Naruto stared down at the three words at the top of the otherwise blank white paper, the black ink a startling contrast to the bright hue of the sheet. It was a simple assignment. It was simple, and yet horribly complicated.

"_Tonight, practice your written English skills,"_ Gaara had said, pulling out a piece of paper and writing something in the upper margin of it. Extending it toward Naruto, the blond accepted it and tilted his head at the words.

"'_Who am I?'"_ he said, repeating the neat handwriting verbatim. Naruto had always secretly admired the redhead's penmanship. It was a kind of art, each word drawn out a certain way, each letter possessing its own unique quality. Or maybe Naruto was looking much too closely at what was only handwriting.

"_Just take it home over night and think of how you would answer it,"_ Gaara said while gathering his things together. Stopping at the door, he looked skeptically at Naruto from across the room. _"Don't make it more complicated than it needs to be."_

Right. Don't complicate it. "Don't complicate it," Naruto even said aloud, voice filling the vacancy of his room. Sitting back, he dropped his arms at his sides and stared above at the ceiling. Who was he? He was Uzumaki Naruto. Right? Yes. And no. He was more than a name. Gaara was more than "Gaara" after all. Gaara was the quiet, introverted junior who liked to read. He was bright, both of mind and of body, because, while he had a gloomy disposition, his fiery hair and glittering eyes could light up almost any room.

"Focus," Naruto groaned, rubbing his face and rocking slightly in his chair. At least that was a start with how to begin with himself. Though, while he finally felt like he was starting to get somewhere, he realized he was getting nowhere with Gaara. What did Naruto know about him, save for his physical appearance and obvious likes (reading) and dislikes (Naruto)? And what did Gaara know about _him_? What did Naruto even know about himself?

_Who am I? _

"I'm complicating it, aren't I?"

A sudden knock at the door jolted him out of his musings, and before Naruto could even start toward the front door, the knocking sounded again. But who could it be? People rarely visited Naruto anymore. He preferred that they didn't.

The knocking sounded again, and Naruto jumped out of his chair and headed to the front of the house. "I'm coming," he called out, flipping on the hall light and walking to the front door. Again, the knocking sounded, and, glaring, Naruto hastily opened the door, ready to start yelling at someone.

But any dispute was lost as Naruto stopped and stared at the person before him. "…Sensei?"

Kakashi smiled, flashing a peace sign and tromping on into the house. One of his arms supported an overstuffed duffle-bag, while the other held a haphazard stack of papers. A few flew out of the stack, fluttering randomly around the room, and Naruto could only stare at them, and then at Kakashi, and then back to his open door before closing it. Kakashi hummed his own little tune as he sat his things down on the floor and heaved a triumphant breath.

"Iruka was right," he said agreeably, glancing around the front room. "Lots and lots of space."

Naruto walked around to the silver-haired man's front, so as to face him. He still looked at a loss for words. "Kakashi-sensei…what are you doing here?"

"Weeeell," Kakashi began, drawing the word out purposefully, "for professional purposes, let us say that I'm conducting a teacher-to-student case observation." Removing his glasses, he folded them and placed them in his breast pocket. "But, for candid purposes…I have been kicked out." He smiled brightly when he said it, so his words didn't quite match up with what he was saying.

"Kicked out," Naruto repeated, still trying to grasp the concept. "And you're staying here? Sensei, you can't—"

"But how else can I observe you, my dearest Uzumaki-kun?" With a scheming glint in his eye, he placed his hands on Naruto's shoulders. The gesture did little to reassure the blond as it should have.

"Why can't you stay with Iruka-sensei? He's your friend, isn't he?"

"He's my friend," Kakashi agreed. "But I can't stay there."

Naruto stared at him for a few more seconds, before stepping out of his arms and swatting away a question he looked ready to pose. "Fine—you can stay here." Why was he agreeing so readily to this? Perhaps he was losing his ability to care—at least about things that made no sense in his life. "Just don't make a ruckus."

"Me? A ruckus?" the teacher asked a little too innocently. "I shall be on my very best behavior. Did I tell you you were my favorite student?"

"You're hilarious, sensei," Naruto commented dryly, crossing his arms and sighing. "I have homework to do, so make yourself at home. If you need anything, I'm just down the hall." Kakashi's unreadable smile bore into Naruto's back as he made his way back to his room.

The blond stared blankly for another hour at the white paper before him, but any answers to the question eluded him. And then Kakashi started in on his requests. He asked for everything. _Everything_. And he was shamelessly nosy. He seemed to poke his nose everywhere, and into every possible space imaginable. The way he went about things was weird, too. He would walk up to something and just stare at it, seemingly taking it apart in his mind, before he would smile and walk away with a cryptic "Uh-huh". But he was company, and Naruto had not had company in a very long time, so, in a strange way, he appreciated the older man's presence.

Until Kakashi took his bed. And set up Naruto's room as if it were his own. He sprawled across the sheets carelessly, arms and legs sticking out of the sheets, face buried in a pillow. But Naruto took it all in stride, and when he woke up the next morning, having opted (been forced) to sleep on the couch, Kakashi was gone. His things were still strewn about the house, but he was no longer there. Something else told him Kakashi would be back.

ooo

"What's this?" Gaara asked, tone flat as he glanced at the paper Naruto had handed him. It was filled with numerous black splotches of ink, and where it wasn't covered in ghastly blobs, it featured half-written sentences that had been scratched out once or twice and a stick figure at the bottom of the whole thing that seemed to indicate he had given up. _Who am I_ were the only three words on the paper that made sense. "I see." Gaara held up the paper. "You fail."

"Fail?" Naruto said in disbelief. "I thought the stick-figure held a strong resemblance to me."

Gaara seemed to look from the picture to Naruto as if to judge his words. "This isn't an art project, Uzumaki," he said flatly, crumpling up the paper and dropping it into a nearby bin. He was clearly irritated as he pulled out another piece of paper and used the wall to write the heading once again. "Now," he said, holding the paper toward the blond, who begrudgingly accepted it, "try again. Write yourself—put _you_ into words." Gaara had obviously said _too_ many words, as he was shaking his head as if it was something Naruto could never understand. "Try again."

With a skeptical departing look, he started to head to class. Naruto wasn't sure why, but he caught up with him. "Who are _you_?" he asked, shrugging his hands in his pockets and ambling beside him. The few people that also occupied the hall glanced at them and then turned back to their own matters. By now, Naruto and Gaara together had become commonplace. The rumors that there was something else going on died down, though they were still present, but at least the buzzing whispers had substantially lessened.

Stopping momentarily, Gaara looked from his watch to Naruto's inquisitive face. "I'm the one who's not failing English. Try again." Saying nothing else, he was gone into a nearby classroom.

With a smirk that said he was not surprised, Naruto turned to head to his own class. But stopped. Ahead of him, coming his way, walking almost right _toward_ him was…well, it was Hyuuga Neji. It was _Hyuuga_ Neji. Neji. _Neji_. Why did Naruto suddenly feel defensive? More than that he felt small. Insignificant. He didn't like it.

He started to turn and leave when a hand rested firmly on his back, guiding him toward the long-haired student once again. "Hey, Hyuuga," Kankurou smiled, not looking at Naruto, but patting his shoulder. "Where are you off to?"

Neji's face before he had seen Kankurou was rather unusual—a naturally unhappy face of sorts. Regardless, he didn't look pleased, but when Kankurou had warranted his attention, his face softened somewhat, until he was not quite smiling, not quite frowning, but still revealing enough to show that he knew his addresser and was quite clearly used to his antics. "To class, Kankurou. And yourself?"

His voice was soft, Naruto decided. Very soft, with a strong undertone. But decidedly male, and while he walked with a kind of feline grace, he possessed an indescribable quality that alerted others of the fact that, beyond a reasonable doubt, he was a boy. And he was clean—clean-cut, with his white button-up looking as if it had been recently pressed, along with the optional navy vest. And he was tall, a little taller than Naruto. Maybe that was why Naruto was having a hard time liking him. Then again, maybe it was something else.

"You know me," Kankurou replied, yawning and stretching and bringing both his arms behind his back. "I'm a studious child, so, of course, I'm off to class."

"Of course you are," Neji agreed, his tone indicating a strange tension between the two. "If I know you, you're heading anywhere _but_ class." He did not do anything overtly—this Naruto noticed as well. He was subtle, humble in a strange way as he put forth his emotions with the smallest amount of blatancy that was necessary. Like Gaara. Only _not_ like Gaara, because Naruto refused to lump the two together.

"I'm highly insulted," Kankurou replied, faking a look of shock and hurt.

"I'm sure you are." He finally seemed to notice Naruto then, turning toward him, and ever-so-slightly elevating a dark brow. If Gaara was bright, Neji was most certainly dark. His black hair jetted down his back and stopped almost abruptly, a few locks tumbling over his shoulders and swaying with the slightest movement. His skin was very lightly hued, like a touch of cream had been thrown in, and his eyes were even more peculiar. More…dazzling. An odd shade of crystal-amethyst. Like Gaara's, they drew one in, but seemed to taunt one by reflecting nothing. But unlike Gaara's, Neji's seemed a little more kind. "Hyuuga Neji," he said, extending his hand toward Naruto.

Naruto shook his hand, surprised at the firmness of the grip. "Uzumaki Naruto."

"Uzumaki." Again, his brow lifted slightly, before his normal reverie was restored. "Nice to meet you." Withdrawing his hand, he tossed a black wave over his shoulder, but the act which Naruto had only seen girls act out seemed not at all out of place on the senior. He made everything his own. He seemed like the sort of person who could turn anything he wished into _Hyuuga Neji_. He was intimidating. Gaara had liked him—maybe loved him once. Maybe still did. "I prefer 'Neji'," he said after a moment, seeming to size Naruto up indiscreetly, "but call me what you wish. 'Hyuuga' is not who I am, so I don't care too much for it. Which is, of course, why Kankurou calls me as such." He cast a sidelong look at the other senior who was all smiles.

"Neji. Okay," Naruto said shortly. It felt weird to say, seeing as Naruto had only just met him, but it also suited the other student quite well. Neji knew who he was—didn't mind making sure that others knew. _Wanted_ others to know. Tall, thin, and naturally gorgeous. Handsome. There seemed to be much more to him than this. "Nice to meet you, too."

"I'm not so sure." There was the slightest hint of a smirk at one edge of his mouth, but it had vanished, leaving Naruto to wonder if it had really been there after all. "How did you come to the unfortunate happening of meeting Kankurou?" He was forward, direct, didn't try skirting around things. He made his feelings known. It was admirable, but Naruto couldn't quite bring himself to like him. He couldn't quite _not_ like him either.

"I met this kid through the kid-brother," Kankurou answered for him, tousling Naruto's locks but never once breaking his gaze with the other boy. "You remember Gaara? But then…how could you forget?"

It was then that Naruto became doubtlessly aware that Kankurou did not like Hyuuga Neji. It was in his stance, his voice, that smile that was just a little _too_ nice. He was also quite positive that Neji did not like Kankurou, either. The black-haired student didn't quite glare, but he was certainly not smiling as he stared at the taller student before him.

"I have to go," Neji finally said. "Goodbye, Kankurou," a bow, and then, a little more softly, "Uzumaki. Give my regards to Gaara."

"You never could do that yourself, eh Hyuuga?" Kankurou asked, but Neji only stared at him with that oblique glare and left. Naruto and Kankurou watched in silence as he disappeared around a far-off corner. "As much as I'd hate to admit it, Hyuuga Neji doesn't walk." He seemed to smile slightly, genuineness peaking through. "He floats."

"Like flying with your feet on the ground," Naruto mused almost dreamily.

"Exactly," Kankurou turned toward him with a slight look of surprise, like he never imagined such words could come from the other's mouth. "Poetic. No wonder Gaara's having such a hard time with you. You can do wonderful things with words."

"Not really." If that was true, why couldn't Naruto say the right things when it counted?

"That's also why he's having trouble with you," Kankurou added. "You need to have more confidence in yourself; be comfortable with who you really are."

Naruto was suddenly sullen. "Like Neji?"

With a small grimace, the senior said, "Maybe not so much like Neji, but at least you can tell that Neji knows who he is."

_Who am I?_

"You know about Hyuuga, right?" Kankurou asked, switching to more formal language. Though the question was broad, Naruto was able to discern what he was talking about rather quickly.

"_Last year, maybe mid-October, there was a letter that had been posted all throughout the school."_

"Yeah," said Naruto. "I know about him."

"_It was a letter Gaara had written to another boy."_

"Well, be careful about believing what you've heard about him. He's a good guy, in earnest. It's just that I'm like an elephant," Kankurou quipped lightly. "I'm faithful. And I never forget."

Naruto agreed, but he still didn't like the long-haired student. And he didn't really want to think about why that was. Instead, he looked at Kankurou, who now seemed the drastic opposite of Neji. "Your shirt's untucked," he pointed out, taking in the full unkemptness that was Kankurou. Oddly enough, he pulled it off in a defiance-of-authority sort of way. His collar was even popped.

"So?" Kankurou asked, indicating he was aware of his state of dress and was quite possibly the reason for it.

Looking a little closer, Naruto could've sworn he was seeing things. "And is that a cigarette behind your ear?"

Kankurou's eyes went wide, seemingly confirming what the blond was seeing. Reaching behind his ear, he raised a brow at the pencil-thin object and tucked it in his back pocket. "So it is."

Naruto looked to be either disappointed or disbelieving or a mixture of the two. "An untucked shirt is forgivable, especially for a senior, but I hardly think they'll look past a cigarette. Smoking is strictly forbidden on school grounds. Does Gaara know?"

"Yes and no," nodded Kankurou. "But you won't tell him." His tone indicated that this was non-negotiable. "This is one of the conditions of our friendship."

"Conditions?" Naruto repeated, still in slight doubt. "Don't you know those things kill you slowly?"

"Maybe that's why I like them," Kankurou seemed to tease. Then again, he also seemed to be serious. "Anyway Naruto, I must be off to class. You, too, if I'm not mistaken." Elevating a hand in a wave, he smiled and took a step back. "Don't forget to return my clothes, kouhai…Condition Number Two of our friendship."

Naruto slapped a hand to his head, remembering it had been two weeks since he had borrowed said articles.

"It's not the end of the world, Naruto," Kankurou chided lightly. "Just drop them by sometime this week."

"Will do," Naruto said reassuringly, wishing, deep down, that the end of the world would come soon. The life he had known, the one he had been comfortable with, was slowing flaking off in small pieces, revealing a foreign world beneath. Matters of letters, of Kankurou, of Neji, of _Gaara_—these were not part of what he had known. Maybe it wasn't the end of the world after all, but simply the birth of a new one.

ooo

"Welcome back, Naruto," Kakashi greeted as the blond walked in. He was in the kitchen, which was visible from the front room (because Naruto's house was _normal-_sized, unlike Gaara's), and he was busy cooking something that actually smelled good.

His optimism was a stark contrast to Naruto's conflicted attitude. "How did you get in?" the teen asked absentmindedly, before shaking his head and slumping back into a couch in the front room. "You know what? Never mind," Naruto said tiredly. "I don't even want to know."

Kakashi regarded him from the kitchen for a moment, before pulling off the oven mitt he had on and laying the apron he had found who-knew-where across the back of a kitchen table chair. Then, very slowly, he walked into the front room and stopped in front of Naruto.

"What's wrong?" he asked gently, in a tone that Naruto was unfamiliar with. It was a tone of caring, a tone of concern. A parental tone.

Naruto looked at him, and then looked away. "It's nothing."

With a small smile, Kakashi took a seat next to him, resting his left arm on the corresponding left arm of the couch. "Naruto…I've known you long enough to know when you're lying, and I know you well enough to know that this is one of those times."

"You've only known me for about three years," Naruto told him, looking at him skeptically. "As long as I've been at Konoha High."

"You're wrong," Kakashi respectfully disagreed, looking forward into memories past. "I've known you much longer than that." Turning toward him, he said, "I taught a few odd years at your elementary school, remember?"

Naruto raised a brow at him. "You're right," he said, as if it was all starting to make some strange sort of sense. Kakashi had known him for a much longer time than he had considered—since he was but a mere child.

"Iruka is your official guardian, but I am your back-up guardian—his _study_, if you will. It was supposed to be me in Iruka's place, but I knew he would be more reliable than I. He always is."

Naruto was looking at him in a new light now, a light strongly fueled with disbelief. "You…knew my parents?"

"Yes," Kakashi smiled, one eye hidden beneath its black patch. "I knew them quite well. Just as I made it my duty to know _you _and ensure that you live a normal, happy, adolescent life."

Naruto almost laughed, turning away and shaking his head. "What is 'normal', anyway?" To Naruto, it now seemed like a horrible term created and defined according to a certain group of people's standards in order to be forced upon others. Those who didn't fit the determined criteria were simply looked down upon. Like Gaara was looked down upon for being homosexual. It wasn't right.

"Normalcy is not always what you think," Kakashi replied, also looking away, but into a nothingness of his own making. "Normalcy can be what's okay for you, Naruto." And then, as if he could read Naruto's thoughts, he added, "It's not always what other people think."

"I guess so."

"I _know_ so," the silver-haired man said adamantly, turning again toward Naruto. "I also know that your parents would be sad to see you like this. What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing," Kakashi sighed, looking a little disappointed. "Honestly, I might believe it was nothing looking only at your grades. You've shown great improvement in the past few weeks; I've been pleasantly surprised, and very proud. You don't have to worry about your grades. Well, you _do_, but you know what I mean."

"I know," Naruto said, playing with a lock of his hair and sighing as well. "It's not my grades. It's me."

"You? What about you?" Kakashi suddenly became wary, if not a little on his guard. "You haven't gotten into drugs, have you? Mingled in with the wrong crowd? Owe money to the wrong people—"

"No," Naruto laughed, looking at him finally. "And you sound like Iruka-sensei."

Kakashi's smile seemed a little more real for a moment, a little less false. "He rubs off on people. Anywho, if it's not drugs or gangs, what is it? It's not Gaara-kun, is it?"

Naruto looked at him quickly. "Why would you say that?"

"No reason in particular. It's just that I know how adamant he can be. He's rather set in his ways."

"Comfortable," the blond quietly corrected. "He's comfortable with who he is."

Kakashi glanced at Naruto with another unreadable expression. "Indeed. You two seem to be getting along as of late."

"_Seem_," Naruto repeated, tone slightly bitter as he scratched his chin, before rubbing his face altogether. "Everyday I sit beside him after school, and I think that we _seem_ to be getting along…but we're not. We're just…_going_ along with it all. We're just…pretending."

"…Pretending?"

"I think Gaara hates me," said Naruto, biting on the end of his thumb as the red-haired boy's image conjured before him. "From his point of view, I'm just that boy who doesn't know anything—who won't go away. No wonder he only thinks of me as an idiot. I _am _an idiot. And…," he turned toward Kakashi with a contrite smile, "I'm not making very much sense, am I?"

"So-so," Kakashi answered with a small smile of his own. "But you make enough sense to show that you care about him."

Naruto seemed to laugh again, the short chuckle coming out more as a release of breath than anything else. "Sensei, did you know what you were doing?"

"When?"

"When you asked Gaara to be my tutor."

Again, Kakashi looked at Naruto, before turning away and smiling to himself. "Of course I knew—," Naruto looked at him fast, but Kakashi's grin revealed nothing, "—I knew that Gaara was the best person for the job. He can be difficult to read, no pun intended, but when it comes to English, there's not a student better suited to the subject than he is. I knew he would be able to make you see the things that I couldn't."

"He's amazing," Naruto said in agreement, before he could really think about his words. Even after considering it, he knew no better words to describe it. Gaara really was amazing. But. "I know absolutely nothing about him."

"So?"

Naruto nearly went blank at his teacher's reply. "So…So, that's what the problem is. What do you mean, 'So'?"

Kakashi looked at him like he was the one saying strange, indecipherable things. "So…it's your fault, then. You're the one who cares, so you need to make the effort. Right?—Of course I'm right, why am I even asking?" He smiled to himself, and Naruto couldn't help but smile, too.

"You're right," he said quietly, even though it was unnecessary. And Kakashi _was_ right. Naruto cared, but he hadn't tried as hard as he could. He hadn't done everything he could have, either.

"But don't forget," Kakashi spoke up again, holding a finger in the air, "you're not the only one—who cares, that is. Gaara cares too, though he might not show it. It's just that you seem to care a little bit more. So show him."

Naruto wrinkled his brows. "Show him?"

"That you care."

"How?"

"How should I know?" The older man even shrugged a bit. "That's between you and him. What do they say—'Actions speak louder than words'? But words are good, too. Ultimately, I can't tell you what to do. You'll know and do it when the time is right. Right? Yes I am, thank you."

This was sounding more and more confusing than it probably should have. "And then?"

"And then…you pray to the gods that Gaara opens up to you."

Naruto could only bring himself to blink. "So there's no guarantee?"

Kakashi looked over at him and smiled a bit. "Of course there's no guarantee. Who wants a guarantee? That's what's so great about life, right? You never know what will happen. All you can really do is hope for the best. And be yourself," he added as an after-thought. "That's really all that matters."

"Be myself?" repeated Naruto, looking at him and unconsciously screwing up him face so that Kakashi had to chuckle at him. "What if I don't know…who I am?"

"Then you're a normal teenage boy." Kakashi patted the blond on the head. "And you should be dazed and confused for a few years yet. But you should know who you _might_ be. Even if you don't know who you are, you aren't nothing. You're _you_…whoever that crazy student is. And only you can know who you are." He nodded agreeably. "It's that easy." Naruto could only look at him, slowly taking apart his words and finding the undeniable truths within them. For a man close to his thirties, who seemed dull and aloof most of the time, he spoke surprisingly-wise words.

Tilting his head, Kakashi then asked, "Why the philosophical questions all of a sudden?"

Naruto turned toward the window, now dark with the onset of night. "Gaara just asked me, that's all," he shrugged out. "He even made it an assignment, but it's giving me some grief."

Kakashi regarded him silently, staring at him for a few moments before looking away again. "Maybe you're not the only one who cares, after all." Standing, he stretched a bit and looked toward the kitchen briefly. "Well, I'd better get back to dinner."

"Can I ask you one more thing, sensei?" Naruto suddenly spoke up. He was still looking at the window, out of it, into the world.

"Of course," Kakashi replied, resting a hand on his hip.

"I know it's a weird question, but…did kissing someone ever tell you how you felt about that person?"

Kakashi's eyes went a little wide before he reclaimed his normal composure. And then he smiled. It was the same smile Kakashi had donned when he had told Naruto to take care of Gaara. "Almost always," he began fondly, "a kiss has told me what I already know."

"Already…know…" Naruto went over the words slowly, before shaking his head and turning toward his teacher with a sheepish half-smile. "I know that was really random…I was just thinking about things. Non-related things," he was sure to clarify, but Kakashi just smiled back at him. "Just forget I even asked," he ended with dejectedly.

"Whatever you say," Kakashi said calculatingly, starting toward the kitchen.

"Um, sensei?" Naruto spoke up again, feeling bad to do so, but knowing it was necessary.

Kakashi stopped and turned. "Yes?"

"Thanks," said Naruto quietly, looking down and rubbing his arm. "…Thanks a lot for listening to me. And giving me advice. I appreciate it."

"…Anytime," the silver-haired man said warmly. "And I mean that, Naruto. Anytime."

"Thanks," Naruto said again. Looking at Kakashi, he could only squint his eyes a bit. "Kakashi-sensei, why don't you have kids? I think…you'd be a good dad."

For a moment, Kakashi turned away from him, before facing him again with his usual smile. "I don't have a uterus," he finally replied. "Besides…" Walking back over to the couch, Kakashi placed his hand on Naruto's head simply kept it there. "I have enough of a kid to look after right here."

Naruto could only look down, feeling suddenly like he might cry, which was funny, because Kakashi was starting to feel that way, too, and he never cried. Withdrawing his hand, he walked into the kitchen and commenced his cooking.

"Oh, and I didn't quite know what I was doing," he called out after a few minutes had gone by, "but I did have a pretty good idea."

Naruto didn't know what he was talking about, until he skimmed through the conversation they had had. And then his eyes went wide. "I hate you," he said, but laughed the sentence out.

Kakashi's smile was even in his voice. "You love me."

He did.

ooo

Kakashi was gone the next day. Miraculously, he had packed all of his things up sometime during the night and had left—all without Naruto knowing. Naruto tried to tell himself that he wasn't as disappointed about it as he felt, but that only made him feel worse. Still, Kakashi had told him that he would be there for him "anytime", and Naruto found comfort in knowing that that had been the truth. He also knew it would only be a matter of time before the silver-haired adult would be driving him crazy once again.

Then, to add to matters, Gaara refused to tutor Naruto until he got the assignment right. But Naruto kept thinking that he _had_ got it right, so this made things rather frustrating. He brought a new piece of paper to school every day, but Gaara would always glance at it and say no, before taking it out of his hands and crumpling it into a ball. He made a dramatic show of it, too. The way he crumpled the paper worked in such a way that it sounded as if the world was breaking apart—Naruto's world, as he struggled to find himself somewhere within it. His resolve was breaking, too. Sasuke was right, because every day Naruto didn't see Gaara, he became more and more frustrated about everything. When he got right down to it, he didn't even know what he was frustrated about, but he knew that it had something to do with Gaara. And he had almost given up on kissing him. How could he kiss someone who was slowly driving him crazy? And he certainly couldn't press his lips to someone who took such pleasure in turning his work into little, crumply balls.

Sasuke refused to offer any more advice on it all, and Kakashi's advice returned in the form of unreadable smiles. Thankfully, he didn't see much of Neji or Kankurou, because he didn't need to be feeling any more inadequate. All of the frustration and disturbance went on for a good four days, until the fifth day when everything seemed to collapse.

Gaara did not come to school. Granted, this would not have been such a surprise had it been someone else. Like Kiba, for example. He occasionally missed a day. Or even Naruto, who often missed any number of days. But Gaara never missed. In the entire history of Naruto's interactions with him, the blond had never known Gaara to ever be absent. When he should have felt relief, he felt an inexplicable fear, more of a trepidation that stayed with him for the better part of the day. And then the worry settled in. What if something had happened to him? What if he had moved to another country without warning? He would do it, too. Gaara was the type of person to move to another country without warning, just for the personal enjoyment of making Naruto worry about him, and so Naruto spent the remainder of his day trying to figure out which state the redhead had resided in. He told himself that this had to be the reason, because if it wasn't, then that would have to mean that something had happened to him, and Naruto did not want to worry about him. No one else knew otherwise, and the one day he actually wanted to, he couldn't find Kankurou. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Outside, the skies opened up, and it finally started to rain.

By the time the afternoon bell rang, Naruto uttered a rushed goodbye to Sasuke and left. He didn't have an umbrella, but it didn't really matter. Of course, it was pouring outside. He walked, but walked fast. And then he thought of Gaara speed-walking everywhere. He didn't want that speed-walking redhead speed-walking anywhere else but Japan. He hoped Gaara was all right. When the large house came into view, he had never felt so relieved. And alarmed. A fire-truck backed out of the driveway and started off down the street just as Naruto bolted into a run. He sprinted faster than he could ever remember running in his life, pellets of water stinging his skin, and as his muscles seemed to tell him that he was not in shape for this kind of torture, he ignored them and continued pumping his arms and legs until he all but collapsed on the front lawn. And then he did collapse. Thankfully, his arms flew out to support him, but his knees had not been saved from the rain-soaked earth. He tried not to grimace too openly at the two brown patches of mud on his brand new khakis. Because, of course, Naruto had just bought that pair the previous day, and everything that could go wrong with his life was quite contently going wrong.

Collecting himself and trying to catch his breath, Naruto stood, brushing his hands off on his shirt (why not his already soiled pants, he did not know), and slowly limped over to the door. Knocking seemed to take more energy than he could remember, and his bookbag now felt like one-hundred pounds had been slumped over his shoulders. But he didn't care. The house was still standing. Thank the gods, the house was still standing.

An eternity seemed to span before Kankurou opened the door, looking out at Naruto soberly. He didn't seem to notice the blond's state of dress. "Now's not a good time—"

"Is Gaara here?" Naruto nearly cut him off, bracing his hands on the doorframe and still trying to pace his breathing.

Kankurou finally looked him over, raising a brow in puzzlement over his soaked clothes and random mud and grass stains. "He's…" he began, trailing off unconsciously. Finally, he looked behind himself, turning so Naruto could just barely glimpse the red-haired student a few feet away at the bottom of the staircase. Where the staircase should have been. Where the staircase was no longer. Gaara was looking down, probably at the large pile of ash on the floor. Maybe at nothing at all.

"It was an accident," Kankurou cleared his throat, turning back toward Naruto. "I left the fireplace lit last night, and a freak accident happened. The stairs, well—," he tried to smile, but gave up, settling instead with a broken grin. "The stairs are gone."

"It was an accident," Naruto repeated, more so to cheer him up. "Accidents happen. No one's hurt, right?"

"Not physically." His thoughts seemed to go somewhere else for a moment. "Anyway, you might want to come back later…when things are…fixed." His smile was a little more perfect this time. "I'd let you take a shower, but we currently cannot access the second floor. Sorry about that."

"It's okay," said Naruto, almost mechanically, before shaking his head and propping a foot in the door. "No, it's _not_ okay. What am I saying? Don't you have cram-school?"

"Well, yeah, but I can't go. I have to stay with Gaara."

"_I'll_ stay." Naruto watched as Kankurou looked at him with a strange hesitance. "I'll stay with Gaara, Kankurou."

"…You." Kankurou looked behind him again, before chewing on his lip and turning back toward the blond. "You would?"

"I would," Naruto said with assurance.

The senior regarded him for another span of time before breaking into a small smile. "You would." Sighing, he reached behind the door, picking up his helmet and pulling out his keys. "Thank you, Naruto."

"Anytime," the blond said with a smile. Stepping aside, he let Kankurou pass him as the older boy fastened his helmet and pulled on his gloves.

"If anything happens, you have my number," he said at last, glancing over Naruto's shoulder and toward the back of the hallway. "And Gaara has it. And you know where the food is by now; feel free to use it. And—"

"_College-bound_, sempai," Naruto said with a laugh, all but pushing the older boy out the door. "Drive safely, Kankurou."

Kankurou smiled at him—a grateful smile—before flashing a thumbs-up and heading over to his bike. An engine rev and a nod later, he was gone, motorcycle starting on down the street. Naruto waved until he couldn't see him. Then, sighing and turning toward Gaara, he heaved his sopping wet bag onto the floor and crossed his arms, finally making his way toward the other.

Gaara didn't even hear him approach. He just stared at the black pile on the ground, musing about the delicacy of life. Everything suddenly seemed so fragile. Life seemed so fragile. Life _was_ so very, very delicate. It registered much later than it should have that Naruto's arms were around him. Drawing back and whirling to face him in an automatic well-up of anger, Gaara was slightly thrown off by the blond's disheveled state.

"Naruto," he finally said in slight surprise, revealing more emotion than he would have liked to. Settling into his usual, irritated expression, he followed with, "What are you doing here?" He was angry to find himself cold after losing contact with Naruto's body, the dampness of which now seemed to linger on his skin and send an involuntary shiver through him.

Naruto just stared at him, nearly laughing quite bitterly. "Finally." Gaara just looked back at him. "Finally, you bring yourself to call me by my name."

Gaara's look of surprise returned, replaced almost immediately with annoyance. "It doesn't mean anything, Uzumaki," he said in aggravation, but Naruto only looked at him as if to say, _You know it does_.

And Naruto was mad now. He was mad, and he couldn't quite figure out why, but it probably had something to do with the confusion of his feelings up to that point and Gaara's stubborn nature. "Why didn't you call me?" he asked, raising his hands before dropping them to his sides. "I was worried about you."

"Why would I call you?" Gaara asked monotonously, irritation still edging his words.

"Why?" Naruto asked in disbelief. "_Why_?" He felt himself raising his voice, and so carefully lowered it again. "I just spent my entire day worrying about you. I didn't know what had happened. You could have called."

Gaara looked away, feeling he couldn't quite look him in the eye, afraid of what he might see there. "It's none of your concern."

"None of my—," Naruto began, mouth open in shock. "When you form a relationship with someone, you begin to share each other's concerns; therefore, it _is_ my concern, Gaara."

"Relationship?" Gaara was able to look at him then, feeling his voice threatening to rise as well. Again, Naruto's ability to rile him up instantly set in. "There is no relationship, Uzumaki. How many times do I have to tell you this?" He narrowed his sharp gaze, irritation giving way to a cool disinterest. Numb. He felt completely and utterly numb. "You're nothing to me."

A bolt of electric anger seemed to surge through Naruto's body, and he took a step forward. And then another. And yet another, nearly trembling as both his frustration and the dampness of his clothes seeped almost into his very core. Gaara glared daggers at him, backing up until he bumped into the wall, and the whole moment seemed surreal because they had walked through where the staircase had once stood, passing through the space into the shadow cast by the level above. Naruto was going to start yelling. He knew he was going to start yelling as he braced his hands on either side of Gaara's face, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists. He had never felt so frustrated before, never felt so confused. Things were spiraling so drastically from what he had planned.

"Nothing," he said, tone a cross between disbelief and resentment as his blue eyes seemed to flash. "_Nothing_?" he repeated, voice a broken whisper as he stepped even closer. _Close_. Too close, yet again. And Gaara pressed his hand against Naruto's chest as if to say, _No_. And Gaara's hand was warm, heat radiating through wet fabric to cold skin. And Naruto closed the space between them.

And Naruto kissed Gaara.

oooTBCooo

Hm. Talk about spiraling out of control. The end of this chapter completely spiraled away from what I had planned. Oh well. I like it. I hope you do, too. This story is officially insane. But, knowing that, thanks for reading. And read T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock" if you can. The earlier half of this chapter reminds me of it a lot. And it's a great poem.  
((and "aoh": seriously, thank you. You always make my mind start thinking about things I hadn't thought before))


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